Piltover's Finest and Then Some
by TheLoreWriter
Summary: My own take on the lives of the champions of Piltover on and off the fields of justice. I try to avoid making up names where possible but I'll add them where necessary. There will be romance in some chapters, mainly CaitxJaycexVi and EzrealxLux. Will include all champions related to Piltover and possibly Zaun in some way, and any that are appropriate to the story
1. Author's Notes

Hi there. I'm Someguyrandom, or SGR. If you want to go straight to the story, just click on the next chapter, but I have a few notes for any new readers. I'm putting any updates and notes for the readers at the beginning because its just simpler this way, and less trouble than rearranging the chapters every time I upload something new, I aim to add a new chapter every month. The format of this story is third person for the most part, but it switches to first person when you hear a character's thoughts. The story follows Jayce, Caitlyn, Ezreal and Vi, but it will incorporate all of the champions hailing from Piltover, Zaun, and several other factions and city states such as the Crownguard siblings from Demacia. I don't plan on leaving out any Piltovians or Zaunites so you can be sure that Mundo will wander into a chapter or two as he pleases. I have plans for Jinx, but we won't be seeing her for a while. Partly because of my planned story line, partly because I have several things I need to figure out and finalize about other characters who are already in the story. That being said, for all of you Jinx haters out there, she won't be showing up any time soon, so you don't have anything to worry about for a while. Another thing to note is that after reading several other fanfictions about Piltover and/or Zaun, I hope that my take on Jinx will be different from how others portray her, and that you won't just find her to be an annoyance. Thanks for taking to time to read this, and I'd appreciate a review if you have any thoughts about anything. That's about all I have to say before you get started, so enjoy.

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I post an update on the progress from time to time. You can find them all below. I will generally write one when a chapter is almost ready for posting, so check here occasionally if you would like to see how the writing is going.

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Author's Update #1

Hi guys. This has done way better than I expected, or could have hoped for, considering how little time has gone by since I started this. I'm writing this update to let you guys know a few things that would be awkward to include in the actual story. For starters, I am planning on making this comic updated weekly, but school and some other things in life are getting pretty heavy soon. While I may not be able to always put out a chapter every week, I might try to end up releasing two chapters in one week to make up for it, but I can't make any promises. I will not drop this and take a break without leaving an update as long as I can do so.

If I make mistakes, either in spelling, grammar, or inconsistancies between chapters, please let me know. As for lore, I try my best to stay as close as possible to the Riot lore, but some of it is either missing, no longer valid, or too vague to give me a real idea of what the person, place or thing is like. I will make things up asI go along, because keep in mind that this is a fanfiction. If I write something that is offensive, I apologize, but it is likely something you should have expected or at least been prepared for as this is rated Mature.

The only romance that is going to show up for the next few chapters will probably be Ez x Lux, so be patient for the Cait x Vi x Jayce shipping. I'm unlikely to ship them all together right away, but I might if I feel like it and I can figure out how to do it. Ez and Lux already have a relationship, whereas Jayce, Caitlyn and Vi do not, at least romantically. I can't rush it.

There will be multiple references to Rooster Teeth, movies, animes, webcomics, and some of my favorite books. I do this because I really enjoy them and I might be able to bring some of you guys into the fanbases for these. These references can be quotes which I may put before a chapter or inside dialogue, they can be names, either slightly altered, or simply alluded to a character from something else. It can also be a tool, item or an action, but these are more likely to be for a joke or humour. Next time I do an author's update, I'll post a total of how many references I made up to that point, so post a review saying see how many you guys got.

Chapter 6 should be coming out within three days. Thanks for reading. I do this for you guys as much as for myself.

SGR

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Hey guys. I know its been forever. Really sorry about that. The story behind the hiatus is that my laptop stopped charging the day after i sent this update so i haven't been able to get on here to upload or work on the stuff i had in the works. I'll upload the next chapter within the week and hopefully I'll be able to get back on schedule. This next chapter is on Vi so its gonna be a lot of fun :) Also, I'm really excited to see another champion from Zaun, so its going to be interesting to see how i can fit him into the storyline.

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June 12

So exams have already started and I have had no time to work on the new chapter. Friday just isn't going to be possible. I can't even consider producing a chapter every week until about mid summer and I might have to hold back on writing for a bit. I won't say for sure that this story won't get updated more than once but I'll be completely done with school by next Monday. That means that I will have time to write and I can finally get the rest of Vi's full chapter done. I knew I couldn't post the whole thing when I uploaded it so I gave you what I could. So the next chapter will be about Vi, picking up where she left off. Caitlyn is next. once I get through their chapters, we'll finally get to see how Jayce's fight with Viktor went down. And who knows what other characters might pop up for a few seconds of the spotlight? I'll see you all soon. (Hopefully) SGR

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September 23

Hey guys. I'm really sorry about the hiatus. Long story short, I got hit by a car mid July and while it wasn't serious, I took a break from everything because my shoulder took a pretty hard landing and my arm was killing me. After that, nothing was coming to me. I was completely blank. I was about halfway through chapter 9 by that point and I was doing pretty well, but then I couldn't think of anything for Caitlyn at all. In the end, I scrapped everything and started new in September. I'm about two thirds done this upcoming chapter, and almost done reading Game of Thrones Book 5, so look out for chapter 9 soon. I'll hopefully be able to gat back into the rhythm of things with a chapter every month or something. See you soon. SGR

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October 28

Its been a while since I've uploaded chapters within the span of a single month, but it looks like I'm going to make it since I'm not much of a person to go out for partys and stuff on Halloween. I'm going to finish off Caitlyn's chapter, and then we're finally going to get to see Jayce again. After this "arc", the chapters are probably goign to start being a little more chronologically in order, so that's good for anybody who minded that. There will be a Harrowing themed bit at some point, but it won't be in time for the Harrowing, so sorry about that. A big thank you to everybody who has followed me up to now, as I wouldn't have kept this up from back in March if I didn't have our support. I'm still looking for how many references you might have caught in these past chapters, as there are a few, so if you recognize them, please post the ones you recognize. That's all for now, I hope to have Chapter 10 posted and finished in the next few days. See you soon. SGR

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November 5

So that's it for Caitlyn's perspective for a bit. Jayce is up next, so we're finally going to see what happened to him from the day before to the night after his fight with Victor. This may take three chapters to do, but I'll do my best to keep things interesting. Sorry the chapter is late, but I just didn't have enough written to post it until today. I'm going to try to keep at the monthly posts, so you can expect the next chapter some time in early December. That's all for now. See you soon. SGR

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March 12

So PFaTS has officially turned 1 year old today! (Yay!) I know it's been forever, but for several reasons, I couldn't write anything. The good news is that things have started to calm down and my college applications have come back so I am no longer having to deal with all of that. I can't promise this next chapter for tonight, but it should be uploaded by Sunday night. I'm really thankful for everyone who has stuck with me so far, and thanks to all the new readers I've got. This next chapter is all about Jayce, and I'm almost done, so just wait a little longer. That's all for now. See you soon. SGR

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May 12

I'm sorry it took so long guys but my writers block has finally let up, and life will be calming down a bit soon. As you might have noticed, I've got a new name on , or rather it's a old name I've had for other for years so I figured I'd change it to that once I realized I could change my username. Hope you guys enjoy chapter 11, chapter 12 should be more exciting, and chapter 13 is going to be the actual fight. No promises on the release date for the next chapter, but if possible, I'll have it out by the end of June. Thanks for sticking with me this far, you guys are the reason I keep writing this. See you soon. Lore

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Dec 7

Hey guys, so I am aware that this story has been more or less dead since the last update more than half a year ago. Life sort of got messy and I was stuck with a lot of unforseen bullshit. But enough excuses, one of the biggest reasons I've essentially avoided uploading new chapters comes to this: I have been writing, but Riot has been retconning a ton of previous lore. Zaun is now a part of Piltover, though below it and considered to be its own separate entity in many senses, Champions are going to be getting their own short stories, and a whole lot of other stuff which basically means I have to stay with the old lore and write a story in a world that no longer exists, or take some time to fix what's wrong and bring it back in the new one. Among the city states, Piltover is in for its rework first, so I'm more or less waiting for that to happen. Once Riot has finished with that, and I've finished reworking the currently uploaded chapters, I'll get to work on continuing the story. I've tried to write some more to continue along with Chapter 12, but my sources are changing, and it's like I'm trying to write a story for a world that's in the middle of becoming different from what I'm describing. For now, PFATS IS ON HIATUS. for those of you who follow along and check back to see what's up with the story, I appreciate it, and you are the people who've kept me interested in keeping this alive, but until Riot finishes updating Piltover's lore, the story will just feel awkward and off. I haven't given up on it, but Valoran is changing, and I want the story to reflect the new one, not the old one. Until then, read on and keep playing League. Lore


	2. Where it All Began

Jayce woke up with his head reeling, his leg burning and his chest felt like something heavy was pressed on top of it. He also couldn't see. What he could do was taste blood in his mouth, and hear someone's voice. The voice began to get louder as the owner got closer, and Jayce tried calling out.

The person's identity became apparent as a piece of plate metal blocking the light was removed and Ezreal's face came into view.

"Oh gods, Jayce. Are you okay?"

Jayce groaned from something pressing on his chest.

"Ezreal? What are you doing here? And what's going on?"

Ezreal tried lifting the debris on Jayce's torso, but to no avail. "Forget about why I'm here, what happened to you? Your lab is wrecked."

Jayce explained as quickly as possible. "Viktor offered me the chance to join his _Glorious Evolution_. Some crazy idea about all humans evolving into higher beings by becoming like him, augmented to a state that is no longer human. I refused and so he stole powerful crystal from the lab. He attacked me and my assistants as well as destroyed my lab. I must have lost consciousness when the debris fell on me. Go get the Sheriff and her partner. Vi's gauntlets will be able to free me."

"Alright. Hang in there. I'll be back asap."

* * *

With that, Ezreal arcane shifted through the City of Progress's rooftops until he found himself at the police station. Upon entering, he saw the Sheriff in uniform, berating her pink haired partner on her actions in a previous arrest.

"Vi, you can't break a jewelry store's window without someone trying to rob the place. Think about what you are throwing your target into before you do it. We are now responsible for recovering nineteen pieces of jewelry that we didn't need to before you threw that man into the window."

Vi groaned, trying to come up with a reason to excuse her mistake.

"Look. I didn't throw him. I punched his bike and he went flying. Also he totally deserved getting his face smashed into the glass. And I mean that place has had gangs around since I was a kid. Who would even set up shop the- Oh hey Ez, wassup?" She waved a hand.

Ezreal somewhat out of breath from the magical transit, and slightly disoriented, stumbled over, speaking in short, broken phrases.

"Caitlyn! Jayce trapped. Under heavy metal. In lab. Viktor attacked. Need Vi. Lift stuff" As an afterthought, he wheezed out a "Hey Vi." with a wave.

Caitlyn was utterly confused, her train of thought being broken with Ezreal's interruption. Vi however had understood the basic idea of what Ezreal had said.

"Science boy? Alright cupcake, you can lecture me all you want later, but we gotta help Jayce out of his metal trap thingie cause I owe him big time. You said his lab right?" Ezreal nodded, still trying to steady himself from a lack of oxygen. "Then let's go!" She grabbed both the sheriff and the explorer's wrists (thankfully, her gauntlets were still strapped to her back) and dragged them over to Caitlyn's police cruiser, with the blond in the back seat and the brunette riding shotgun. Ezreal explained what he had come up with from his brief conversation with Jayce, while Vi weaved through traffic,the siren blaring. Her erratic steering earned her several "Watch out!" and "Slow down!", all of which she brushed off.

By the time they had arrived, Ezreal's body had experienced too much magical feedback from the trip to the precinct, and too much shaking around thanks to Vi's speeding through Piltover's streets. After stumbling out of the back seat, he promptly threw up, to which Vi looked at him and snorted. "Pussy"

Caitlyn was slightly more used to her partner's driving after a case where Vi had led a chase in their cruiser while Caitlyn had shot out the criminals' tires. After that, she had forbidden Vi from getting behind the wheel of a car that had another living being inside.

"Vi darling, you know what I said about driving with passengers. Most people just can't handle your idea of _reasonable speed_."

Vi remembered, but didn't care. This sort of thing happened frequently on the job and the pinkette and simply decided that it was more convenient to ignore Caitlyn's bits of advice. "Yeah, yeah. I know that. I'm just too awesome for most people to handle. Now let's go see what happened to Jayce." To this, Ezreal, (who had recovered from losing his lunch) simply pointed up at a gaping hole in the wall, just below the roof. When she noticed it, all she had to say was "Damn" admiring the size. As wisps of smoke began to trail out, the enforcer exclaimed "Oh shit. Come on Ez. Let's get Mr Inventor. You might wanna call in your boys Caitlyn. And an ambulance too."

As the sheriff made the calls from her cruiser's radio, Ezreal and Vi entered the building. The lobby appeared to be untouched, and abandoned, but proceeding into the next room proved that the lab did not share the same fate. The lab itself must have been well over twenty feet tall, thirty feet long and twenty feet wide with a door leading into a similar room. The tables had been smashed or cut in half by lasers. Chemicals had been splashed all over the ground and walls. Electronics and computers were scattered around, their screens broken or showing static. Scorch marks were left everywhere and in one corner, some equipment had set alight. Ezreal was quick to grab a fire extinguisher from the ground and put out the flames.

The next room was in worse condition. The walls were covered in scorch marks, and broken electronics. The ground had bits and pieces of lab equipment all over, a few tables remained relatively intact, and the telltale marks of lasers or energy bolts were on nearly every surface. What made this room different was the people. A young man in lab apparel was lying unconscious on a broken table, and another was propped up against the wall with a wound in his side that had been messily bandaged up with gauze. A young woman was lying unconscious beside him with a head wound where a a screen on the wall had fallen and struck her, its cables still hanging from its mount.

At this point, Caitlyn had finished making the necessary calls and joined her companions, who had surrounded the lab assistants. Upon seeing the wounded youth, she felt for a pulse. "His bleeding has stopped, and he's alive. He's lucky his friend was able to wrap him up. I don't like leaving him, but the medical team will tend to him. We need to find your friend, Ezreal." The explorer just nodded and they took off into the last lab.

In this room, the gaping hole near the ceiling could be seen, with debris from the wall an every surface available. Some very high-tech looking computers had holes in the screens or a laser cut bisecting it. Desks with notes had been broken or melted. Some heavy containment units had been knocked over or smashed. Bits of security bots were strewn across the floor. Jayce was lying in a pile or debris and was trapped under a large piece of sheet metal that had been thrown on top of him in Viktor's attack. Vi made quick work freeing Jayce from the wreckage with her massive gauntlets. "Now, we're even. Got it?" Jayce nodded and simply thanked her, assuring the pinkette that all her debts with him had been cleared. Voices could be heard marking the arrival of the police force and the medical team. Once the scientist has seen to it that his assistants had been taken care of, Caitlyn drove all four of them back to the precinct as Jayce's injuries were minor cuts and bruises.

* * *

As Caitlyn questioned Jayce on the events before their arrival, Ezreal and Vi decided to catch up on eachother's recent lives. Ezreal had been wondering what Vi had meant when she said she owed Jayce. "So... Um... How do you know Jayce? And what was it that you owed him for?" Jayce wasn't one to loan money, and he didn't seem to Ezreal like he would even associate with someone as ill mannered as Vi.

Vi wasn't keen on telling Ezreal but she figured he'd let it go once he knew. "Mr Rich over there had found me one night when I was still on the streets. I'd gotten pretty fucked up in a fight and they'd left me there, beaten and bleeding and knocked out. He had taken me back to his place and patched me up, but when I'd woken up, I freaked and trashed his place trying to find my gauntlets and stuff. I ended up breaking a lot of expensive stuff before he found me. He told me he had my gauntlets and I nearly punched his face in. Then he told me he fixed them up for me cause they'd been salvaged for parts after the thugs knocked me out."

This was news for the explorer. Jayce had never even mentioned Vi until that morning, and Ezreal had been his close friend for years. "So he just found you on the street, patched you up, fixed your gauntlets and said "You owe me". Really?"

To this, she simply snorted. "Seriously? He's your friend. You should know what he said to me." Ezreal simply shrugged. "Alright, listen. It gets better. I asked him why he helped me out. He said that when he saw me, he saw a chance to "contribute to the well being of society" and he actually meant it! Can you believe that shit?" Ezreal could. As far as he could remember, Jayce had always felt that he wasn't doing enough to help Piltover become a better place. Vi continued, "And here's the best part. When I asked him what he wanted from me, he told me that I didn't owe him a dime. The problem was that I'd just turned a new leaf and I was all about fighting crime and stuff. Just walking off after getting all this help from him woulda made me feel like crap, so we made a deal. I'd come in once a week and fix some stuff or build something or whatever he needed for a month and a half. After that, I'd pay off however much I still owed him, but I think he had taken off a zero."

This Jayce was a much more familiar person to Ezreal, to which he nodded in agreement. "Yeah, that's Jayce. He's a pretty nice guy when you get to know him."

Vi just replied in a sarcastic voice, "Oh yeah, everybody loves Jayce. He's so smart, he's so rich, he's so cute." Her tone gained an edge to it. "Truth is, I hate the kind of person he is. He's an pompous ass who thinks he owes the poor people something because they weren't lucky enough to be him. He's never had to live on the streets, fight for food, or his life. He doesn't know shit about what people like me had to do to survive, but he wants to play the hero and save them. He acts like he's smarter and better than you because he's rich and he has a degree. I mean who the fuck cares?" As she finished speaking, her gauntleted hand crushed the doorknob to the briefing room with an audible crunch. This prompted Vi to pull it out of the door in alarm.

"You need to stop breaking things in here Vi! You break more than enough things on the job for me to deal with." Caitlyn's voice carried out from inside the briefing room. Vi sheepishly tried putting the knob back inside the splintered wood, but little success.

"Fuck!" she yelled. She moved over to a table and sat down. In a calmer, quieter tone, she started "You know he even told Cait where to find me when he got word she was looking for me. It's like he wants something from me but he doesn't wanna tell me. I mean like what the fuck!?" She spread her arms in question.

Ezreal tried to convince her that Jayce really was a decent guy. "You know, maybe he just wants to be a good person. Have you ever considered that maybe he'd seen you were down on your luck and he felt like giving you a helping hand?"

Vi looked him in the eyes and replied "You learn on the streets that there's no such thing as a free lunch. You gotta clear your debts or they'll bite you in the ass when you're out of luck." Then, her shoulders relaxed, and her voice regained her carefree tone. "So what about you Ez? Any luck on the ladies? Or maybe you go for dudes. I can picture you pretty boys macking it out." pointing in Jayce's direction.

Ezreal just shook his head, trying to get the image of him and Jayce kissing out of his head. "What? Ew. No. Just no. Stop. I've known the guy for years. That would just be weird." After an awkward pause "Anyway, I have a date. With a girl!" he added, seeing Vi's face.

"Oh really? Now this I gotta hear. Who is it, what's her name, and you better not be screwing jailbait, or I'm gonna pound your pretty face in."

Raising his hands in defense of his face he said "Hold on a sec, she isn't jailbait. She is eighteen." When Vi lowered her fist, the blond boy continued "Her name is Lux. Luxanna Crownguard."

Hearing the name Crownguard, Vi burst into laughter "No way. Garen's little sister? Wow kid. You got some balls. I've heard that Mr Spin hasn't been very friendly to little ole Lux's boyfriends in the past."

"Tell me about it. I'm afraid to walk by damn near every bush in Demacia now." He chuckled upon hearing Garen's nickname, earned by his trademark spinning attack, and his battle cry DEMACIA! in the League of Legends matches.

The door to the briefing room was shoved open, and Caitlyn walked out with Jayce. "Listen Mr..."

Jayce simply smiled and said "Just call me Jayce."

"Well Jayce, as I'm sure you can see, Piltover cannot take any actions against Viktor without giving Zaun an excuse to call it an act of war. I'll contact my higher ups but my hands are tied. You'd have to contact the authorities in Zaun."

Jayce looked at her with an incredulous expression. "Are you kidding me sheriff? Zaun is a city riddled with unsafe, amoral, insane, scientists and wizards. The authorities wouldn't give a damn. They'd probably congratulate Viktor for "furthering the well being of Zaun's scientific community" or something. No. I can't just sit around and wait for something to be done. People's lives are at risk."

Caitlyn put a hand on his shoulder and looked at him with sympathy. "I understand your frustration. I really do. But unfortunately, attacking Viktor, even if it is in retaliation, is against the law. My job requires me to uphold that same law, so please don't do anything stupid. I'd hate to be forced to arrest you."

After Caitlyn had returned to her office, Vi walked over to Jayce. "Listen. You're not too bad of a guy, even if you are a pompous rich dude. Lemme give you some advice. You go on your own. You're smart, build yourself a gun or something. Buy some hexplosives from Ziggs, and blow the shit out of Vik's lab. Cupcake wants to help, but she's married to her job, and her job says no. I've been breaking too many things and now I'm on probation, so I can't go. But you, you can go. I mean he stole your fucking crystal thing, and he broke your toys. Give him a little bit of payback."

Jayce's mind was spinning. The police force couldn't help him and the authorities in Zaun sure as Void wouldn't help him. But some of Vi's words had stuck a chord in his mind, inspiration taking root, and reminding him of an unfinished project he'd abandoned upon discovering the crystal. "Go on your own. Build a gun. Give him a bit of payback." He could already see the image of a hammer in his mind, with a cannon built into the head. A grin had settled on the young inventor's face, because now, he had a plan.


	3. Opinions

Just a note for how to read this. _Sentences in italics are thoughts that are transmitted to other people._ And *_Text in italics between asterisks are thoughts a person is having._* Read everything else as you would normally.

Jayce was walking down the busy streets of Piltover before he realized he'd taken a wrong turn. He'd been deep in thought as he walked, only just conscious enough of his surroundings to navigate the streets without causing an accident. With the realization that he was lost, he reached into a pocket and drew out a blue stone, magical energy pulsing from within. It was a gift. Ezreal had given it to him a few years ago. Not long ago, the University of Piltover had allowed him to keep a few artifacts from his discoveries as payment. Jayce had received quite a few gifts of similar kind over the years, but this one was among Jayce's favorites. It allowed him to contact Ezreal as long as his gauntlet was on his person or nearby.

* * *

_Hey Ez? You there?_

_Yeah. What's wrong?_

_Well... How do I put this? I seem to have found myself in an unfamiliar part of the city._

_So you're lost._

_If you must put it that way._

_Listen. I'll try and see if Caitlyn or Vi could pick you up. Where are you?_

_Well like I said before, I'm not sure. I see a round, white building, a building that looks like many saucers were stacked on top of each other, and a statue of the old sheriff._

_Alright, Caitlyn says it sounds like Glendale Square. Vi's coming to pick you up. I have some things I need to get from the U of P._

_Miss Vi? Well, alright._

_Was that a sigh? What's wrong with Vi?_

_Vi is a woman whose skills include being capable of trying my patience._

_Really? You? You must be joking... You know, you never told me that you knew her._

_I didn't. Not really._

_Is that so? Well she says different._

_I'd met her about two and a half years ago. I'd found her beaten and unconscious, lying in a gutter. I took her home instead of the hospital in case she had a record and because of her gauntlets. They're far better quality now than they were then, being patched up with spare parts when she could find them, but to see a seventeen year old girl armed with weapons such as those, well, you know me._

_Always a sucker for hextech. Listen. I think I know the rest. You can fill me in later. Vi should be showing up around now._

* * *

Sure enough, within two minutes, Vi pulled up in her police cruiser, opened the shotgun seat and waited. Jayce got in, and sat down. "About what you said, I think you're right."

"About being a pompous ass?" *_Gods dammit. Why don't I ever think of what I'm gonna say? Shit! I'm gonna get Cait in trouble!_* "Just forget I said anything. That would be better"

"Umm no. I meant about taking things into my own hands. Someone needs to do something, and its my responsibility to be that person."

"Oh here we go again with that self righteous routine. Save it. You patched me up, fix my babies and indirectly helped me get my job. I get it. You're a nice fucking guy. Stop acting like you got something to prove."

"Vi my dear, I'm a scientist. I always have something to prove, whether its is proving a law wrong, or proving a theory right, there is always something to prove."

"Oh for fucks sake! I did not come pick you up to hear about why you're special or some bullshit like that. Caitlyn sent me because she has paperwork and I really fucking hate doing paperwork. Oh yeah, don't you fucking call me your "Dear." If you wanna hit on me, at least do it right. Got it?"

Taken aback by the outburst, Jayce decided to find something of common interest. "Why don't we talk about something that interests both of us such as hextech?"

"What do you think you'll learn from me? You're the one with the fancy degree."

"A diploma doesn't mean anything to someone like you, and you built your gauntlets without ever getting any form of education."

"You got a problem with that?" _*What the hell does he want? Can't he tell I just want him to leave me alone?*_

"Not at all. I admire people who can not only make do with the life they have, but excel at what they do. You have gone well beyond what could be expected for someone with the childhood you endured." _*Dammit. That must have sounded more like an insult than a compliment. What's going on Jayce? You never have these issues with women.*_

"Oh. So you don't have an issue that I didn't go to school. You just think you're too good for me 'cause I came from the streets."

"Of course not! I'm no better than you. You can't seriously believe I think any less of you for your past!"

"And why not? Everyone else seems to. You're a rich, fancy, scientist who pities all of us common folk right? I mean why else would you do stuff for them? We never did anything for you!"

"Dammit Vi! You could have died! If you hadn't bled out, the gods know what could have happened to you! You were only seventeen! The are a lot of ways a girl can be hurt on the streets. You know this better than anyone!"

Jayce's words struck a chord in Vi's memory, bringing up pain and regrets she had thought she'd buried deep within her forcing her to slam on the breaks.

Jayce jerked forwards in his seat, choking himself on the seat belt. "What the void? Why did you stop?" He started, but his voice died in his throat when he saw the tears in his driver's eyes, her head hanging.

"Yeah, you're right. I've seen exactly what happens to the unlucky girls on the streets." Her voice was nearly a whisper. After wiping her tears, she looked up."Oh look. We're here. Now get the fuck out." Jayce was quick to open the door and get out as fast as possible, before Vi had sped off without another glance. Had she looked back, she would have seen the look of regret and sympathy in his eyes.

Upon unlocking his front door and being greeted by his personal butler droid, he realized that his car was still locked up at his lab.

* * *

_Hey Ez._

_Yeah?_

_I need a favor._


	4. Memories 1

Vi's tears were streaming down her face as she drove through traffic. Her pent up anger released in the outbursts at Jayce.

_*Stupid scientist. Why did he have to bring up those memories? I thought I'd come to terms with them on that night. The night I buried you Sally.*_

_Vi pulled over and stopped by an empty street, holding onto the steering wheel tight enough to leave permanent marks into the leather. To a passerby, Vi's eyes had completely lost their focus. Her mind had gone back into her past, memories of pain and suffering surfacing in waves, until one memory appeared, clear as a crystal in her mental eyes._

* * *

_A crowd had gathered around the body, the girl's pulse weakly fluttering from the abuse and beatings she had received in the past 24 hours. Vi, only thirteen at this time, parted the crowds simply by showing her gauntlets. She rushed over to the girl lying in a heap, dropping her gauntlets on the ground. "Oh gods Sally! What did those bastards do to you?"_

_The girl opened her eyes, gave Vi a heartwarming smile and after coughing up some blood she quietly spoke. "There's my little Viper. You're going to grow up big and strong. I know it."_

_Vi's tears were streaming down onto Sally's bruised and bloodied body. "I can't. Not without you. You can't go. You can't leave me here. Alone..." Her frantic tone settling to a whisper on her last words._

_Another smile, another cough. "Don't worry. You remember that wonderful boy I'd told you about? The one who had been my best friend until you came along?" Vi nodded, quieting down. "Well I'm going to see him again, and we're going to be happy forever. We'll be waiting for you, and when you come and join us, you will be able to be my little sister again." Another cough. "But until then, you have to be strong. You need to get out of these streets. You've only seen the bad side of the city."_

_"__But you're my best friend. I don't want you to go Sal. I need a big sister. Please stay." Vi never said please for anything._

_"__I know you do. I really do, but sometimes people have to go. So be strong until you find your own wonderful friend." After a few ragged breaths, her eyes closed, and she gave a last smile. _

_Vi looked at her dearest friend thinking how she looks like she was came the realization that her friend's soul had left her body. "No no no no no. Sal? Wake up Sal! Sis, you can't leave me. Sally!" Her last cry for her friend, a scream for a friend who was no longer there, and never would be._

* * *

_Vi's actions were almost robotic as she rhythmically dug with her gauntlets, her only lights provided by the full moon. The place was in a corner of a park where Sally had loved visiting with her friends before her life had been overturned and she'd ended up on the streets. She'd still visited with Vi, but she seemed sad when she visited then. She teared up every time she saw the tree that she and her friend had carved their initials inside a heart: S.L.+J.D. Vi was digging under the great oak tree, pulling away rocks, dirt and roots. Once she was satisfied with the little space she'd made for her friend, Vi had carefully lowered Sally's body into the hole._

_Sally's body had been prepared as best as possible by an old healer who had lived in an old store as long as anyone could remember. She had always been old, kindly, and happy to help out the children who had been living on the streets, for as long as Vi could remember. When Vi shuffled into the store, Sal's body cradled in her massive, mechanical hands, the old woman had nearly burst into tears, but she agreed to tend to her the best she could. Her condition was that Vi buried her in a place that was deserving of her, and so here she was, laying the sister she'd had in all but blood to rest, under the oak that had been such a bright part of her past._

_After she had refilled the hole, Vi planted some flower seeds she'd bought with Sally's savings into the dirt. She wouldn't return to the place for years, but when she did, she'd find that more flowers had been added and tended to. After saying her last goodbyes, Vi walked away, a changed girl with a hardened soul._

* * *

_Four years later, she'd been recruited into the Police Force. Deciding she was ready to face her inner demons, Vi returned to the oak tree. Upon seeing the new flowers and the care that had been taken into preserving her friend's final resting place, a memory of Sally's smile popped up into her mind, nearly bringing her to tears. Finally getting a hold of herself, Vi sat down in front of the tree, and began to speak._

_"__Hey Sal. Its been a while. Sorry I haven't come to see you. I've been pretty busy myself. Guess what. The sheriff, that's right. The fucking sheriff of Piltover offered me a job. I think you were right in the end. I need to be strong. I've been stronger than anyone I've met on the streets, and its finally paying off. I've got a place to stay now. No more safe houses and places to crash at every time I smash a thug's face in. Things are really starting to look up. Oh yeah. I brought something for you."_

_From inside a bag, Vi drew out a metal plaque that said: _Here lies Sally Lovelace. Her life took a turn for the worse, but she lived through it. She was the best sister in the world even unto her dieing breath.

_After nailing it into the tree, she got up and with a single tear in her eye said "Goodbye Sal. I miss you." and walked home._

* * *

Coming to the end of her memory, her trancelike state broken, Vi was left with countless numbers of questions. *_Why after six years were her memories resurfacing. Why did she lose her cool around Jayce? What the void had caused her to get so angry, so fast?*_ Along with the questions came the doubts and fears as well. *_Oh my gods. He's gonna report me. Cait's gonna think I'm a terrible person and fire me. I don't deserve to get to work with Caitlyn. I'm... well I'm me, and she's smart and strong and good at her job and she's beautiful..._ Vi just groaned as she realized where her mind was going. "I do not have time for this. Think like Cait. Job before love life. Face it Vi, you could never make it work anyway. She's too prim and proper. She would never even consider going out with you. She'd just be disgusted with you cause you're a dyke off the streets. I bet she'd hate you for it. Plus, you've known her for two years. It'd be fucking weird to come out to her now." After going though this talk with her self for the hundredth time, all she could think of doing was scream. "FUCK!" Once her breathing had steadied, she rummaged through her things looking for her phone. "Gods, I need a drink. And a face to punch." She called the main office phone of the precinct.

"Y'ello. Who is this?"

"Marty. Its Vi. Tell Caitlyn that I won't be coming back to my office tonight. Wait 'til after she comes out. Don't bother her. I'll bring back the cruiser but after that, I'm heading out."

"You know, you're gonna have to start pulling your weight around here."

"Not now Marty. I'm not in the mood to argue with you about responsability and shit. If you're gonna give me a hard time, then fuck off and give someone else the phone."

"Chill. I''ll let the sheriff know. I'm just warning you, cause not all the higher ups are happy with the job you're doing."

"I don't care about them." She took off the edge on her voice. "Listen, I'm sorry. I just have a lot of shit to deal with. I really need to go."

"If you're going to drink, she'll send somebody to find you. You know it and I know it. Just... Just take care okay?"

"Yeah, I hear you. Thanks bud."

"No problemo." *Click*

She started up the engine as she thought to herself. _*Now which joint is gonna have the most assholes tonight?*_

* * *

Little did the enforcer know that Caitlyn, while under the pretense of doing paperwork, was currently fretting about how badly in love she was with her headstrong partner, and the discovered feelings for this new and mysterious young man named Jayce. Her feelings were real for both people leaving her to question what she knew about herself. She'd dated men exclusively until meeting Vi as keeping her in line took all the energy and time she had at first. It was during this time that she realized she was falling for the pinkette, and she stopped going on dates altogether, wondering if she would be able to come out to Vi one day, and if she could accept herself for likeing women. Cait had been raised in a household where same sex relationships was frowned upon, and to make matters worse, her parents had always wanted her to marry a boy from a rich family, setting up blind dates for her until she moved out. It didn't help that Jayce seemed to be popping up in her mind as much as Vi. _*No no no no no! None of this makes sense. I've finally come to terms with the fact that I'm in love with a woman, and here comes a dreamboat of a mean who is snatching up my heart as well! This is so unfair... How will I be able to chose? How will I be able to tell them? How am I even in love with this man? I don't know anything about him except that he's rich and he knows his way around hextech as well as, if not better than Vi. And that he's the most handsome creature I've ever seen... Stop it Caitlyn. You're in love with Vi. You can't be in love with two people at the same time equally. It just doesnt work that way.*_ This inner monologue continued for a good half hour before the Sheriff of Piltover ended up finishing her partner's paperwork. She had a feeling Vi wasn't coming back to finish it.


	5. The Favor

Jayce was deep in thought, his mind racing through calculations and formulas, reviewing laws and rules of hextech and magic. He was nearly finished building the weapon he planned to storm Victor's lab with and recover his arcane crystal. He could shift between a cannon firing energy balls and what he liked to call "Shock Blasts" and a hammer that could generate an electrical field. His problem was that it took too long to transform, and the mechanism he used was too heavy. He put down his hammer/gun and walked around his workshop, looking at his previous works for inspiration. One thing that drew his eye was a replica of one of Vi's first gauntlets that he had made during a moment of boredom when Vi had been working for him to pay off her debt.

The gauntlet was a much simpler version of the pair Vi had now. The forearms were wider and the fingers were smaller but they still had the same basic shape as the ones currently used by the Piltover Enforcer. What had gotten Jayce's attention was the hextech capacitor that was embedded into the middle of the wrist. He noted how odd it was as a capacitor was normally used to allow a machine to transfer between modes. Upon realizing he'd found what he had been looking for, he grabbed the gauntlet off of the shelf it was placed on, and got to work opening it up.

About half an hour later, Jayce had installed the hextech capacitor and had moved on to cleaning up the rough edges of his design when the door bell rang. He sent Cogs, one of his butler droids to answer the door.

"Sir. It appears to be Ezreal at the door. May I let him inside?"

"Yes. Go ahead. I'll be up in a minute."

What was supposed to be a minute ended up being five, and when Jayce ended up coming upstairs, Ezreal had already made some coffee and was sitting in the living room, looking at his phone. When he heard Jayce walk in, he looked up and handed Jayce a cup.

"Welcome to the world of the living professor."

Jayce grimaced. "You know I hate being called that." He took a sip from his coffee. "Mmmm. This is some good stuff. Thanks."

"No problem. This is your stuff anyway." Remembering why he was here, he added "By the way, Your car is parked in your driveway."

"Thank you. Miss Vi had taken me straight home. During the drive, we had a fairly heated argument. I didn't remember to ask her to take me back to the lab, and I value my appearance enough to not risk asking her had I remembered."

"I'm not gonna ask what it was about, and don't you drag me into it. You owe me. Not the other way around. Now then... You said you needed a favor, and you needed to ask me face to face."

"Yes I did. I asked you to meet me face to face because what I am asking you to do will be fairly dangerous, both for you and for me, and it will require you to go against everything that your mind and conscience will tell you."

"Hold on a sec. This better not involve me trying out another one of your inventions. That last one nearly cost me an eye."

"No. Its nothing like that. I am going to attack Viktor's lab, and I need your help."

"You know what kind of mess it would cause if I fought against Viktor."

"You wouldn't be doing any fighting. I simply want you there to observe and"

Ezreal cut him off "Wait a second. You want to go and fight Viktor, and have me there just to watch? What the Void are you thinking?"

"As I was going to say before you interrupted me, I need you to take pictures both before, and after our fight. I will probably need you to drive me back home after this is all said and done as well, as I doubt I will be in any condition to drive afterward."

"Let me get this straight. You are going to sneak into Viktor's lab while I take pictures of his stuff, you blow up his stuff and I take some shots of that, and then you run away?" He added sarcastically "Oh yes, as I take pictures of that too."

Jayce promptly replied "Of course not. Viktor has a security system that an Ionian ninja would struggle to sneak past. I'm asking you to take some pictures before the fighting starts. The people of Piltover need to see what Zaun is allowing their scientists to do. I'm not sure what Viktor plans to do with the my arcane crystal, but I know he can't be allowed to use it. From what I gathered about his "Glorious Revolution", all of Runeterra could be at risk if he succeeds in his plans."

"You are going to do this whether I help you or not won't you." Jayce simply nodded. "Well I guess I'd better get ready."

Jayce stood up. "Thank you." He took his friend by the shoulders and looked him in the eye as he said "You have no idea how important your role will be in this. Now then, I think its about time you saw what I've come up with to beat Viktor's arsenal."

Ezreal stared at the weapon that was lying on the work desk in front of him. "You are going to attack Viktor. With this hammer thing..."

"That's the idea, yes."

"How does it work? Wait, don't bother. I'm an archeologist, not a mechanic. I wouldn't understand a thing you say anyway."

"Well, if I were to put it extremely simply, the Mercury Hammer is powered by a battery with a very large capacity. This energy is converted into kinetic energy when I swing it, increasing the force of my swings up to exponentially. A generator inside it converts some of the energy that is released back into electrical energy for my use." Picking up the hammer, Jayce swung the hammer into a mannequin that had been set up for demonstration. Upon contact, an electrical jolt arced through the mannequin and it went flying into the wall behind it crashing into shelves containing a variety of spare parts and hextech tools. "As you can see, the hammer form is quite effective. However, I have access to a ranged weapon as well." Changing his stance and dropping the head of the hammer to point like a spear, Jayce changed his hammer into the Mercury Cannon. The golden colour changed to blue, the top of the hammer head tilted towards the center and a blue orb appeared at the end. "This is the mercury cannon. I plan on making it capable of powering up to fire in rapid succession, firing an electrically charged ball of energy, and placing an acceleration gate to speed me up, and my shots as well."

Ezreal took in the overload of information for a moment before replying. "This is all very impressive, but do you really think you can beat Viktor? He is a champion in the League after all."

"I'm not trying to kill him. I simply need to take back my arcane crystal. I am fully confident in my creation's ability to subdue Viktor long enough to reclaim it and escape."

"And if things go wrong? What will you do then?"

Jayce looked at his friend with the most serious expression he'd ever seen. "They won't. I promise you that. Even if we are equally matched, I have a fail safe measure that I will take to protect myself."

"What about me? I could get hurt, and it would be your fault. The League would come down on your head harder than Pantheon's Mandrop."

"Just stay out of the action and Viktor's defenses should leave you alone. If you do end up getting attacked, use this." Jayce handed Ezreal a mechanical ball, about the size of a fist. "If you find yourself in danger, throw this on the ground. It will act as a smoke screen around electronic and magical constructs. It will not however protect you from living beings. In that case, you may be forced to fight, but I'm sure of your abilities to defend yourself."

"Alright. Fine. You win Jayce. I'll be ready to go in two days. I'm going on a date with my girlfriend Lux tomorrow. I promised her I'd take her out and I'm not going back on it now." Jayce began to protest. "Hey. No. Shut up. You said I'd owe you. I'm calling in my favor now. You wait two days, then we go. Otherwise, I'm out and you can do it on your own."

"I'm sorry to hear that. I'll let you know what happened afterward. I wish you luck on your date, and please do not worry about me. I will be fine."

The young explorer threw his hands up in the air in frustration. "Its when you do stuff like this that I really hate you Jayce. You get completely absorbed into a project of yours and you end up hurting those around you without even realizing what you're doing. You could be killed if you go to Zaun. You're my best friend, but I'm not going to watch you die." Jayce watched and followed sadly as his friend stormed over to his door before turning around and throwing the metal ball back at Jayce. He shouted "Take it! I hope it keeps you alive cause I won't fucking need it!" and left. While Jayce noticed the catch in Ezreal's voice, he never saw the tears starting to fall from his face.

Jayce took a seat on one of the couches in his living room as he thought over the arguments he'd had in the past few hours. _*What was it that Vi was trying to tell me? Why was she so sure I had my own agenda behind talking with her? What had I said that had made her so angry? What is it about this woman that makes her so confrontational? I've encountered many females in my life, but none are so... unreasonable as her. She won't listen to reason and seems to have a biased opinion on just about anything that relates to me.*_ Hearing Ezreal swear had also gotten Jayce thinking. _*The only times I've seen Ezreal swear were when he was beyond furious or when he was drunk, and he was completely sober just now. Why couldn't he believe me when I said I would be fine? My mercury hammer should be all that I'd need to take on Viktor. Does he have so little faith in me?*_

Eventually, Jayce decided he still needed to work on preparing himself and his equipment for the assault on Viktor's lab, reasoning that he would be able to find the answers to his questions afterward. Meanwhile, Vi was taking a walk in the outskirts of Piltover, looking for a bar to get drunk and fight in. Caitlyn had finished her paperwork for the day and now she was looking for Vi, however she started looking on the wrong side of the city. Ezreal was on a train to Demacia, having a nightmare of his friend lying in a pool of blood, his hammer, broken at his side, and Viktor's voice laughing maniacally. None of these individuals were having a good day, but what would happen in the next 72 hours were going to be much, much worse.


	6. A Sleepy Train Ride

After Ezreal stormed out of Jayce's home, he bought a train ticket to Demacia and left within the hour. He spent about half the trip sitting awake, worried sick for his best friend. Eventually a lack of sleep and fatigue cause by magical strain left him slipping into the realm of dreams, but all he saw were nightmares.

* * *

_Jayce lay bloodied and broken in a pool of his own blood, his life seeping out of him. His weapon, the Mercury Hammer was scattered in pieces all around him. He coughed up some blood before speaking to an unseen being. "Even if you kill me, the League will defend Piltover against your army. Your Glorious Evolution will be brought down, and you will be imprisoned."_

_Viktor's voice resonated within the room. "Is that so? What would they be able to do? Send out armies of minions? Send the champions? My army could wipe out Noxus! Thanks to your crystal, I will be able to conquer any and all enemies who stand before me. The Glorious Evolution has begun! You could have joined me, we could have ruled Valoran under a united banner, but no. Your pride and refusal to let progress run its course has made us enemies. It is clear whose ideals have prevailed. I would have liked to have had someone else who could truly appreciate the wonders I will achieve, but no matter. There is no room for resistance in the new, improved world. This is goodbye Jayce." Viktor's robotic hand came into view, its palm charging up a death ray to end Jayce's life._

* * *

"NO!" Ezreal woke up with a start, his heart beating quickly and his body was covered in a cold sweat.

One of the attendants on the VIP car rushed over. "Sir, Are you alright? I heard a scream."

"Yes, thank you. I had a bad dream. Sorry to startle you."

"Are you sure? I've heard that summoners are being killed in their sleep by some nightmare or something. Its possible that whoever is behind them has moved on to champions."

"Don't worry this was just a bad dream. I'm certain of it."

"Very well sir. Please enjoy the rest of your ride. Can I get you anything before I go?"

"A glass of water would be nice. Thanks."

As the attendant walked off to fetch him a drink, Ezreal considered his dream. He wasn't one to believe in superstition and bad omens, but the way that Jayce had planned to simply attack Viktor and walk out bothered him. "My worry for my friend has sneaked into my dreams... I wonder if he has left... Dammit Ez. Stop it. You're going on a date With Lux in a few hours. You should be worrying about what you will say to her, where to go, and where to hide when her brother comes looking for me.

"BEEP" His phone signaled to Ezreal that he had just received a text.

_Just checking in. Heard a friend of yours got hurt. Hope he's OK. If you can make this a good date, I'll make it worth your while. ;) Luv Lux._

As exciting as imagining what Lux had planned for him, he knew he had to reply quickly. While Lux was not a clingy girlfriend, she had never gone this far in a relationship, and her brother was a force of nature when something concerned his little sister. It didn't help that he had been publicly accused after live streamed league matches of cheating on a girlfriend twice. Neither times were true, but the second time had only been false because they had agreed not to be exclusive. The women who accused him ended up getting a lot of attention from the media that they didn't want and ended up leaving him alone, but the stain on his image had been left. Garen didn't trust any boy who did more than glance at Lux besides his close friends such as Xin Zhao and prince Jarvan the fourth. He seemed in Ezreal's opinion to be too close minded as he never considered that Lux might like both sexes, but the one time he brought it up in a private conversation, he received a glare that made the blood in his veins freeze. Garen suspected him of being a player, and the accusations only helped strengthen his belief.

He remembered the first time Lux had introduced the two men. _While he'd encountered Garen from time to time in the League, the two had never been acquainted. After Lux had ran off to the washroom, Garen and pulled him close and in a terrifyingly calm voice, he warned Ez "My sister is both my pride and joy, and the most important person in my life. Should you do anything to hurt her, I swear to the gods, I will bring Demacian justice upon your head. Are we clear?" All he could do was nod. "Good." Garen clapped him on the shoulder and put on a big smile as Lux walked back in, bright and happy as ever. "Now go make her happy alright?" Garen's eyes told the blond boy that he had to watch his back._

Fatigue and a lack of sleep pulled him back into the realm of dreams, but this time his dream would become much better as opposed to his first one.

* * *

The explorer shuddered as he dreamed about the first time he'd caught Garen observing his behavior around Lux during their fifth date._ They had been in a park when some bushes nearby started to rustle and make noise. Lux told Ez that there could be a wild animal inside, and she was scared. She asked him to investigate. Truth be told, she was fully aware of who was inside the bush, but she wanted to see what kind of approach he would take. Ezreal decided to throw a Mystic Shot into the bush, causing the Demacian soldier to jump out, shouting and waving his arms . Ezreal, who had both seen and felt the results of a Garen attack from the brush on the fields of justice called for a tactical retreat, grabbing Lux by the wrist and taking off. They stopped eventually, too tired and out of breath from laughing to be able to keep going. Deciding to lie down on a grassy patch off of the sidewalk, they stared up at the stars, Lux listening intently as the boy beside her told her of the many stories that he had learned about them in his studies and explorations of ancient sites. Eventually, Lux started to yawn, marking the end of their date. The couple walked back to the Crownguards' apartment in Demacia's busy downtown area. While they were standing in the doorway, before saying goodbye, Ezreal gave Lux a kiss. It wasn't much, more of a peck on the lips, then he asked."Don't you live in an estate outside of the main city limits?" _

_Lux, slightly giddy from the kiss replied "We have our main residence near the Castle if that is what you are wondering, but thanks to Garen being prince Jarvan's best friend, we have a lot of places to live. This place must have cost a fortune, but the king was happy to let us have it. He said that anyone who fights so valiantly for his nation deserves a reward. I'd let you come in, but after what happened wit big brother, I'm not too sure he'd appreciate seeing you right now."_

"_You knew it was him the whole time, didn't you?"_

"_Well, a girl has to know what kind of man she's gonna be with. You did much better than I expected. Seems like I'll have to raise the bar for you to impress me."_

"_Is that so?" Lux nodded, a grin spreading across her face. "Then I'll make it my mission to impress you every time." Sneaking in another kiss, he added "Oh, and please tell Garen that I'm sorry about the thing with the bush."_

"_The thing with the bush? Very eloquent there Explorer."_

"_Speaking with fancy words now? You're gonna be a big girl in no time!" Ez pointedly looked at her chest. She was wearing a low cut summer dress that accented her small curves and ended up showing a bit more cleavage than she had intended._

"_Pervert! You're lucky that you're cute and that you are my boyfriend!" She playfully punched him in the arm. While she acted annoyed by Ezreal's joke, she was beaming inside when he noticed the changes that were happening to her body. *I knew this dress would work, but I think I'm starting to out grow this thing. It looks like I'm finally getting bigger boobs!* She had been a late bloomer and more than a little innocent before her senior year at Demacia's high school for royals and nobility. When she joined the cheerleader squad after a teenage identity crisis, all her ideas and Garen's explanations about boys, sex and dating went out the window. That had been two years ago. Now, she was a young, independent woman who saw something she liked, and she was going to take it._

"_Love you too Sunshine. I had a lot of fun. Lets do this again some time." *SHIT! I JUST SAID I LOVE HER! OH MY GODS WHAT IF SHE GETS WIERD ABOUT – Umm what?* his train of thought interrupted as the Lady of Luminosity leaned in, grabbed his face and gave him a kiss. They kept going for a few seconds before she broke away, her feelings open on her face like a book. _

"_Umm... uhh..." He was left completely stunned._

_She placed a finger on his lips "Shh. You don't need to say a thing. I'd like another date. Maybe next time, you will be able to come inside." Her voice hinting at any number of things._

_Finally gathering his thoughts, he blurted out "You look absolutely beautiful with that blush."_

_Lux's face turned an even darker shade of red. "Oh just go home before we end up getting caught." _

_Ezreal's grin widened "Sure. So, just a question, if we're an item, what kind of perks do I get for being your boyfriend?"_

_She gave the blond her best attempt at a seductive look. "Well... I guess you'll have to earn them to find out, but I have a feeling that you can guess. Anyway, you better shoo. Garen is going to wonder what's going on and you're probably not on his list of favorite people right now." Ezreal gave a quick smile and said goodbye. As he turned to walk away, Lux called out "Wait!" He stopped and turned expectantly "Did you mean it? When you said you loved me?"_

_Feeling awkward, he put on his best smile and his most confident face "Of course I did. I mean do. I do. Love you that is..." *Dammit!*_

_Lux giggled. "You're really cute when you get flustered." Ezreal blushed in embarrassment._

"_Alright Sunshine, I've got to go before Garen shows up."_

_Lux grabbed his shoulder and whispered "One for the road" as she pulled him in for a last kiss, this one becoming more heated and lasting a full three minutes. Their lips lingering, their breathing heavy, and their minds firing off in every direction before Ezreal pulled away, both of them reluctant to leave the other._

* * *

_She leaned on the door frame as she watched Ezreal walk away, her mind replaying the last 5 minutes that had passed. "Sunshine... I like it." she murmured, her voice much quieter than the choir of voices shouting her thoughts over and over. *OH MY GODS HE LOVES ME, HE LOVES ME, HE TOLD ME HE LOVES ME. HE CALLED ME SUNSHINE AND HE THINKS I'M HOT AND THIS IS GREAT AND OMG, OMG, OMG!*_

* * *

_Meanwhile, all that Ezreal was thinking was *Damn! She's a really good kisser!* as he walked to the train station for his trip home._


	7. The Hill with the Tree

"Sir... Excuse me sir... Sir, please wake up. We are approaching Demacia. I need you to wake up." This was the first thing that Ezreal heard when he woke up from his dream.

"Meh. What? Um, oh, think you veree mich." Ezreal groggily mumbled, still half in his dream. He reached for the attendant's arm to stand up, but he missed and toppled forward onto the seat opposite from him hitting his nose. The pain ended up waking him up fully causing him to reassure the attendant. "I'm alright."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. Thank you for worrying, but I'm fine. I would appreciate a glass of water if you don't mind."

"Oh yes! I forgot. Please forgive my forgetfulness." She hurried off to get him a drink.

With the woman gone, Ezreal began to gather his thoughts. _*Alright Ez. You need to get your head together. Lux will be waiting for you at the station, so you need to act cool. She... Dammit! I forgot to text her!*_ Ezreal fished through his pockets to find his phone, slightly relaxing when he pulled his phone out of his right side pocket.

_Hey Sunshine. Sorry I didn't reply earlier. I was taking a nap on the train. Dreamed about U. My friend should be K but stuff back home is getting kinda rough. Thank the gods for Piltover's Finest. I'll see you soon. Ez_

Within the minute, his phone beeped again.

_Well as long as ur ok I'm happy. U ready for our date?_

Ezreal just grinned as hey punched in his reply.

_For sure! Hey, would you mind grabbing something from one of the stands nearby? I'm starving._

_OK sure. I'll see you soon. __Kisses ;)_

"Excuse me sir, but I have your water."

Ezreal looked up to see the attendant who had returned, now holding a glass of water. He gave her a friendly smile. "Thank you. Sorry about causing you any worry."

"Oh, its fine. Nothing that I'm not used to. My forgetfulness tends too get me into trouble, but this was nothing." Ezreal noticed a slight blush start to tint her face. "If that is all, I'd better get to the other passengers."

"Alright. That will be all." The woman hurried away, leaving Ezreal wondering what he had done to make the women blush. His train of thought was interrupted as the gold and blue city that is Demacia came into view, his heart rate quickening as thoughts of Lux came to mind.

Within a few minutes, the train had entered the city, and was pulling into the station. After stepping off, he looked around. He saw Lux over on a bench nearby, holding a box with some snacks, looking for him. "Hey Lux!" he called, causing her to jump up and wave at him in excitement.

"Ezreal! There you are! Eek!" Unfortunately, she had forgotten that she was holding the box and it started to fall to the ground. Thanks to a quick Arcane Shift, the explorer managed to close the distance and catch it.

"Don't worry Sunshine. I've got it. And by the way, thanks. This is some of the expensive stuff." He leaned in and gave her a peck on the cheek. He picked a fry out of a carton and popped it into his mouth. "Mmmm. This is good." He paused for a moment before adding "You know, I don't think I've had anything to eat since yesterday's breakfast."

"What? Why? You need to tell me."

He shook his head no, before saying "Its just some stuff in Piltover. Don't worry about it."

Lux gave him the best pouty face she could. "Please? Tell me, tell me, tell me." Then her expression became harder as she looked him in the eye and said "You shouldn't hide things from your girlfriend. She might get suspicious."

The blond looked at her, his eyes narrowing. "Have I done something wrong?"

She burst into laughter before taking a breath to reassure him. "Don't worry, I'm only teasing. You worry too much. Just take it easy. As long as you treat me well and you just act normal, we won't have anything to worry about. Still, I would like to know what's happening back home."

Feeling much better, and much more at ease, he relented. "Alright. Fine. You know, I just can't say no to you." Lux's face perked up and reached in to give him a hug before remembering the food in his arms. "How about we go over what's been going on over lunch. We have the food. All we need is a place to eat it."

"Yay a picnic! I know the perfect place! C'mon, let's go!"

* * *

About 15 minutes later, they arrived at a small park within the nobility district, their only interruption as they chatted was when guards warned them about some dangerous individual who had been vandalizing the residences of various nobles in the area, and had allegedly assaulted a bystander who had witnessed them in action. Lux was quick to remind them that both she and her companion were champions in the League of Legends, but thanked them anyway.

They stopped under a tree at the top of a hill. From there, one could see all of the lower districts of the city, the harbor at the inlet, and beyond that, the endless blue of the ocean.

"Lux, when did you find this place? The view is amazing!"

"Yeah... This place is pretty special to me. Back when we were all kids, Jay-4, Brother and I would come here and talk about stuff when we needed to get away. Sometimes we'd bring sandwiches, or paper gliders to throw. It used to cause a huge panic until Xin Zhao found us. We ended up getting scolded by Jay-4's dad, but after that, he said we could come here as long as we told someone first." Lux gave a nostalgic sigh, before reaching into the box of food and taking a bite out of a burger. She made a face. "Eww. Its cold."

Ezreal laughed. "Well of course it is. You made us walk for fifteen minutes before we got here."

"Very funny Ez. One second. I have an idea." She started lifting up her shirt when Ezreal decided to stop her.

"I don't know what it is you have in mind, but how about we keep our clothing on. Someone could come along at any moment."

"I wasn't... Oh! Shame on you Ez." She threw a fry at him. "I would have let you know if I was planning on that... Or maybe I wouldn't... Anyway, that's not what I was doing. Just quiet down and wait." She lifted her shirt up just above her navel. Surrounding her skirt was a belt, but it was a very odd looking one. It was made of a solid silver rod that had been segmented to wrap around her waist in a double loop. A faint light shone from the spaces between the different segments. The oddest part about it was the buckle. It had a familiar look to it, with golden, curving metal.

Ezreal looked at Lux, not sure of what he was seeing. "Umm... Are you wearing your baton?"

She giggled before replying. "Just watch and see. I came up with this trick not too long ago."

"Alright..."

She closed her eyes in concentration. Just as Ez was going to mention how nothing was happening, the "belt" suddenly disconnected and floated off of her body, and began taking its original shape as a baton, lights occasionally appearing as the segments began reforming as a single metal rod. The end pieces came last, capping each end with an accompanying flash of light. The baton spun in a circle a few times before Lux grabbed it and stood up. "Tada!" and she gave a little bow.

"Well, that is impressive. Still, I don't see what your baton will do to reheat a burger unless you plan on vaporizing it."

"As you know, light produces heat as a by product. If I can control the amount of it that I produce, I can effectively reheat it with light."

"Are you sure about that? It seems a little farfetched based on what I've seen of your powers."

"Oh really? Just watch me."

After overheating the burger once, nearly setting the bun alight, and under-cooking a second one, Lux discovered the right amount of light to use. Ezreal had already given up waiting for her and was digging into the remaining fries.

"Hey! I did it! Look!"

"Wow. It smells good at least." His stomach growled. "Do you mind if I..."

"You take half, I'll take half. Its the only one left."

As the couple happily ate their halves of the burger, Ez asked "Why did you buy a third burger? There are only two of us."

"I know you. Buying an extra burger would make sure that you wouldn't be hungry during our date."

"An extra burger that would have wasted more money if I hadn't caught it." His tone was playful.

"And who exactly did I buy the food for?" Her tone was challenging, hinting at aggression.

"Hold on a second, we're not going to have our first fight about food alright? That's stupid. You did a good job cooking it. Thank you."

Instantly pacified with the compliment, and seeing the logic behind not fighting over something as simple as food, she agreed. "You're right, I am a good cook."

Ezreal noticed some markings on the tree that they were sitting under. "Hey Lux. what's that?"

"You mean the carvings? They're just the names or messages of kids like us who wanted to leave something here. Kinda like saying "I was here", you know what I mean?"

"Yeah, I think so. I've found ruins with stuff like that. Some kid decided to make his mark on something old because someone is bound to see it.

Lux thought for a moment before stating "Its missing something."

"What are you talking about?"

With a giggle, she gave him a tap on the head. "Us silly. We're here, we're young, and we need to keep the tradition going?"

"So its a tradition now?"

"Its an unspoken one."

Ezreal reached into his boot and drew a knife that he had used many times in his endeavours into the ruins of Shurima and other ancient civilisations.

"So what do you think I should carve in?"

Lux took the knife from his hand and started slicing into the wood. "I've got it. Don't worry. I'm a big girl."

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. I have boobs and everything. Anyway, you're only four years older than me, and you look like you could be sixteen."

Visibly bothered by the comment on his appearance, he gave a grunt and turned his back to her, sulking while she began carving.

Five minutes later, she gave a satisfied sigh and tapped Ezreal on his shoulder, causing him to jump in surprise.

"Hey, I'm done."

He turned around and took a look at the carving. It was a message written in looping script inside of a heart with an intricate outline.

_Ezreal and Luxanna  
The Lady of Light  
The Young Explorer  
A Love has Never Shone Brighter_

"Lux... Umm... Wow. I'm speechless.?"

"So its good?"

"Good? This is incredible! How did I never know you were this amazing at art?"

"Well, I haven't had time to draw like I used to, and I haven't painted in ages. Most of my art is either at our estate, in some boxes somewhere, or hanging up in some noble's house."

"You need to get back to drawing and painting and everything. You can't let your talent go to waste."

"Thanks, but I really don't know. I'm that good, and I don't know what to draw or paint or anything like that."

"If you need a subject, I'd happily volunteer to be your muse."

"Umm... I think a muse is a woman."

"Hmph. That is a sexist assumption. Men can be muses, and don't laugh at me."

"Alright Mr Muse. I'll get back to my art."

"Sounds great. Now let's talk about something else."

* * *

They were lying down under the shade of the tree, chatting about anything that came to mind, when Lux noticed that her boyfriend was very tense.

Remembering what Ez had promised her when they'd met at the station and hoping that talking would help him relax, she casually mentioned "So... You said you would tell me what was going on... How about now?" Ezreal looked away.

_*Dammit! Well Ezreal, you've gotta face her like a man, and tell her that you ditched your best friend... Dammit!*_ He gave a sigh, looked back at her and said "Alright. Fine, but you're not gonna like this."

* * *

"You left your best friend to go off and fight Viktor on his own? Really?"

Ezreal hung his head in shame. "Yeah. I did. I was scared, and I was afraid of seeing him get hurt so I offered him my help if he could simply wait a day. I wanted to take a day to find my courage, but I said that it was because of our date. He refused to wait, so I ran out, and came straight here. I was a coward, and I've been feeling guilty for it this entire time."

"Shame on you! He's your best friend. You can't leave him to take Viktor on on his own! You need to give him a call and apologize. Ask him to wait for you to get back and then you better go and help him get back his magic crystal. If you won't take a risk to help him, but you will take on all sorts of traps and monsters when you're at work exploring ruins, I don't know what kind of friend you think you are." She fished through her purse and pulled out her phone. "Take it and call him. Now."

"You're right. I'll give him a call."

Right as he was about to put in Jayce's number and give him a call, he felt a faint tug on his mind.

_Hey Ez?_

_Jayce? Oh my gods. I'm so sorry for running out on you._

_Ez._

_Listen man, I was being an asshole. I promise I won't ditch you like that again. _

_EZ!_

_Yeah?_

_I'm hurt, bleeding, and my phone is dead. I need someone to pick me up outside of Zaun. My original means of transportation is currently a load of scrap._

_Are you okay? What happened?_

_I went ahead as planned and attacked Viktor's lab. We fought for quite a while, but I caught him by surprise using an overcharged shock blast. It disabled him long enough for me to defeat him._

_You didn't kill him did you?_

_Of course not. I may dislike the man for his unregulated experiments, but I'd never kill him over a disagreement in philosophies. I merely knocked him unconscious and shut off his mechanical arm. His is currently tied up. The power source that he relies on for his arm will not recharge for another hour, so I have time to escape._

_Did you get the crystal?_

_No. I destroyed it. It had already been tampered with by Viktor before I arrived. He was using it as a power source for his robotic war machines. The only way to stop them was to destroy their source of power. Now would you please find someone who can help get me back to Piltover? I've heard the stories of Dr Mundo and his medical "Experiments" and I would very much like to be out of this dangerous city before I become one of his patients._

_I'll call Caitlyn. She is the only one I know who could get you soon._

_Thank you. I am waiting by the city outskirts that face Piltover. I will be wearing a grey, cloth robe and my hammer will be wrapped up as well. I will be sitting down with my hammer leaning over my shoulder. Pay attention to that. I'm going to end the connection. The strain on my mind is taking a noticeably larger amount of energy to maintain, and I will need to stay awake until I can receive medical services._

_Alright, hang in there!_

Lux, who had not been part of the conversation was looking at her boyfriend quizzically. "Sorry to interrupt, but what is going on?" You haven't said a thing for the past five minutes."

"What? Oh. I'll explain later. I need to make a call."

* * *

Caitlyn was washing the dishes from the meal she had made for her and Vi, when she heard her phone ring. "Who would call me now? I told the force that I was taking a day off..." She checked the number, but it was both unrecognized and long distance. She considered cancelling the call, but a feeling in her gut told her not to.

"Hello? Who is this?"

"Caitlyn. Its Ezreal. I'm-" He was interrupted as Caitlyn's voice, clearly annoyed barked from the other side.

"You better have a good reason for calling me. I spent all day looking across the city for Vi yestarday to find her totally drunk in a bar barely a kilo away from the precinct. I've had less than four hours of sleep, and I'm not in a good mood."

"I'm calling from Demacia. Jayce is hurt and he needs someone to help get him back to Piltover."

"Demacia? Why are you in... Never mind. What are you talking about?"

"That scientist we saved two days ago, Jayce. He's hurt and he doesn't have a way back home. His ride is wrecked. You are going to help him."

Caitlyn held back a gasp as she realized who Ez was talking about. _*Jayce? Oh no. This can't be good. I told him not to do anything stupid. What have you gotten yourself into?*_ "Alright fine. Tell me where he is."

"Zaun."

"Bollocks."


	8. When There's Nothing to Punch, Get Drunk

Vi was pissed. Really damn pissed. She wanted to punch someone, but since there weren't any calls coming in from her radio, she was on her way to one of the seedier areas of Piltover to do the next best thing. Get drunk. And maybe punch someone after that anyway. While the police had, under Caitlyn's command, cleaned up the streets and restored order to the city state, not everything could be monitored, and doing so would probably have caused civil unrest with the people in the poorer districts. These people were generally used to dealing with their issues themselves, as that had been they way things were for them as long as anyone could remember, and rarely took things up with the police department, much to the sheriff's chagrin.

She had stopped by her small apartment near her first home on the streets to drop off her gauntlets. She'd caused some serious damage while drunk with them once, and she'd been suspended from duty for a month while doing community service. She'd gotten off easy, considering how a lot of the rich residents of Piltover, including Caitlyn's parents, wanted to have Vi fired and her gauntlets destroyed. There was no chance in Void that she was going to let that happen again.

* * *

She stepped into a bar wearing a hoodie. She had the hood on to hide her recognizable hair and partially cover the tattoo on her cheek. She could smell the familiar scents of alcohol and smokey patrons, see the frequent customers, and hear the same stories that always came through places like these. Heartbreak, betrayal, anger, regrets. She'd always thought of bars like these as the place where hope dies, where you go to find a fight, or to find information. She wasn't sure about the first one, didn't need the third one, but she was looking for the second. She stepped up to the counter, pulled out a five and slapped it down. "How much can I get for this?"

The bartender raised an eyebrow. "You sure you wanna be drinking, or at least drinking here? You look like you could start swinging at any time."

Vi frowned. "You think I came here for no reason? I picked your bar 'cause it looks like it has the cheapest beer and the most assholes in the area."

"You could always join the fighting rings if you need to punch someone."

"Ha! Yeah, maybe if it wasn't illegal. You know who I am, right?"

"Yeah, yeah. You're the sheriff's partner. The one with those metal fists."

The bar turned deathly quiet the moment the man said sheriff.

She pulled down her hood and turned around, revealing her identity to everyone in the bar. "I'm off duty assholes. You don't need to worry about getting arrested. I'll be happy to punch you out if you think you can take me."

Stories of Vi's bar brawls before and after her recruitment into the police force had been told for years. None of the men stood up, and no one said a word.

Vi snorted "Pussies" and walked out, forgetting her five on the counter.

After leaving the bar, her mood had soured even more. She'd forgotten her five back in the bar but she couldn't go back to get it without losing face and her reputation was one of her greatest tools she had on and off the job as a cop. Having people recognize her had of course backfired on several occasions. She'd ended up attracting the attention of a few gangs who had been rivals of the one she had been a part of before she changed her stripes. This ended up resulting in graffiti on her door, the odd break in, and harassment in many forms. The graffiti had significantly lowered since the last time she'd caught the vandal in the act. After pounding him to a pulp, she decided to spray paint the guy from head to toe in every colour he had. She took his phone and gave the first person on speed dial a spot to pick him up and carried the then unconscious gang member down a few streets before dumping him on a pile of boxes in a dark alley. When the person arrived to pickup his friend, he found a message sprayed onto his back that read "DON'T FUCK WITH MY DOOR". Nobody was quite sure what she had done the last time she'd walked into her apartment and found a thief because she wasn't going to talk about it and the poor idiot who had tried to rob her was too scared of her to say anything.

After walking a few blocks, Vi stopped in front of another bar. This one had slightly better drink and somewhat less questionable patrons than the first. This being said, the crowd that frequented this bar was just as rowdy as the first one, and more likely to give her the fight she was looking for.

As she shoved open the door with a bang, she was blasted with the sound of conversations for a moment before someone called out "COP!" and the cacophony started to decrescendo. Vi remembered something about this particular bar being so loud at times that the owner had to soundproof the building because of all the noise complaints. She walked over to the bartender and pulled out another five. "What's this gonna get me?"

The man looked at her skeptically. "Nobody called about the noise?"

"Nah. I could barely hear it from outside. I'm not here for work. Just looking to get some booze."

"Well alright. So for five, you can get three shots of Graggy Ice, two shots of Avarosan Ale. I can take four for a shot and a half of Noxian Firewater."

She slapped down another five. "I'll take the Firewater. Three shots."

The bartender gave her a look. "You must really want to forget something if you're going for that much at once." He handed her the change and poured the liquor. "Not that I'm asking. You probably wouldn't want someone to hear about your story. There's a lot of people who'd love to find out about the skeletons inside PPD's closets. Especially in the sheriff's deputy's one."

"You think I'm in the mood to spill the beans about what's bothering me?"

"Nope"

"Good. Cause I'm not. Now gimme those shots."

* * *

Vi could hold her liquor better than most, which was why after three shots of Noxian Firewater, a drink that had once killed a yordle after a single bottle, she was only a little buzzed. After getting into an argument with a drunk girl from Noxus about who's breasts were bigger, she had been politely asked to leave on account of her reputation for breaking things (and people) when she got angry. And so she found herself wandering along Piltover's streets, looking for a place to get some more drinks. After walking aimlessly for a few minutes, she heard some familiar voices, so she followed the sounds until she ran into some of her coworkers on their way to "The Golden Gear". Over the years, the bar had become a favorite of many police officers.

"Hey guys. Mind if I join you?"

Sergeant Murphman, otherwise known as Murph gave her a grin. "As long as you pay for yours, you're always welcome."

Jackson, a stocky man with arms like tree trunks, gave her a slap on the back as she stepped in with them. The small group was made up of Murph, Jackson, Patsy, Gilby and Nik. Patsy was a tall woman with a sinewy body that had been built from physical training as runner in a gang. She'd been caught in a trap set by the police when her gang sold her out for thinking for herself. It was largely thanks to her that the rest of the gang was now behind bars. Gilby was a yordle with a knack for explosives. Before Ziggs had accidentally blown up an assistant during a birthday party, Gilby had been one of his students. As he liked to say "If you need a boom, I'll make it happen." Nik was a security android. Since the boom of robotic science in the City of Progress, the police had been supplied with a hundred security droids running with an artificial intelligence that were capable of taking the place of an officer when none were available. So far, seventeen had been damaged beyond repair, destroyed or deactivated and salvaged for parts. Nik had survived the ordeals of service for the past five months, longer than any other android, and earned himself a nickname. Since he couldn't drink, he couldn't get drunk. Therefore he provided a safe way for the rest of them to get home, so they brought him along.

* * *

When the group reached The Golden Gear, they were greeted by some of their other coworkers who had left the precinct earlier. Unsurprisingly, but certainly not pleasant for Vi, Everyone had heard about the incident involving Jayce and Viktor and that was all anyone was talking about. She heard conspiracy theories about this being a ploy by Piltover or Zaun's government to find a reason to start a war. Others were mentioning the _Glorious Revolution_. It was apparently this new movement that was rapidly gaining support with Zaunites. There were others that were being whispered but by then, all Vi wanted was to get too drunk to care.

* * *

Half an hour later, Vi was hammered. She'd drank enough to put a yordle in a coma and she was finally starting to feel the effects of the alcohol. And those effects were fairly entertaining for her friends. At first, she started to yell about how much she loved everyone and how she wanted to play a game. Then she started to dance when Pentakill showed up on the radio, along with several others who were even more intoxicated than her. Once she got bored of dancing, she had arm wrestling contests with half the people there. The only one who could best her was Jackson, and only when her arm slipped on some spilled beer. Next, she started to dare some of her friends to do things like try and drink a pint upside down which everyone found hysterical whenever one of them failed. At some point somebody dared her to kiss the next person to enter the bar. And so as the door opened, she reached out, grabbed an arm and pulled the clearly feminine body in for a sloppy kiss on the lips. It was only after the bar went quiet and somebody exclaimed "Oh shit!" that Vi pulled away and found herself looking at the face of the girl she loved.


	9. The First Kiss

*This chapter begins approximately two minutes before the last paragraph of chapter 7*

* * *

At this point, Vi was just drunk enough to be open to taking some stupid dares, which was why she was hiding by the door, ready to pounce on the lucky soul who walked in next. As she waited, she began to have doubts about the logic behind this.

_What if the next person is a prude? What if it just pisses them off? OH! What if the next person to walk in is a chick and she isn't into girls... or a guy for that matter... Wait, what the hell am I thinking? I could make any girl gay for me. And probably and man straight for me too. I'm a damn good kisser and the next person who is lucky enough to walk in is gonna know that!_

As the silhouette of an approaching person began to grow on the window, Vi called out to everyone in the bar. "Alright ya pervs! Somebody's coming!"

A few people quieted down to see who the drunk pinkette would end up kissing. Vi could hear some people whispering to each other about who they thought (or hoped) would get surprised.

"Twenty bucks that Vi kisses a chick."

"I'll take that bet"

"Who thinks this is gonna end badly?" A few hands raised at that question.

"Hey! Put your phone away!"

"I hope they're hot. Whoever they are."

"I wonder what happens if they're ugly..."

That last one gave Vi shivers. It'd suck if she were to give this person an awesome kiss but they turned out to be ugly as a troll. Then again, she had a reputation to uphold. If somebody were to say she was a bad kisser, that could really screw up her weekends.

_Nobody's gonna get me bad rep. I'll close my eyes in case they're ugly. If they are, I'll slug em in the gut for being that way. You can get a decent cosmage for a pretty low price here. 'Course if you really want a good look then you wanna go to Zaun for a real surgeon. They cost a fortune but they're definitely better than the average magic surgeon... I'm a little dizzy... Wait a sec, what was I doing? Oh yeah._

As the door opened, Vi reached out from the side grabbing a thin arm. _Feels like a chick._ She pulled the person in tight and closed her eyes as she locked lips with the helpless newcomer. She could feel the person's ample chest pressing into her own. _Definitely a chick. My gods this girl has gifts._ Something felt very familiar with the lips of the girl. They felt exactly like she imagined would feel kissing one person in particular. _Something's wrong_. Then she noticed the silence. A male voice called out "Oh shit!" She opened her eyes and found herself looking at the stunned face of her boss, friend, and her hearts desire; Caitlyn.

Her head was spinning, her heart was pounding and she was starting to panic.

_OH MY GODS I JUST KISSED CAITLYN! I JUST KISSED HER. THAT FELT SO DAMN GOOD!_

Then she realized just what she'd just done.

_Oh shit. I kissed her. She's my boss. She's probably not even into girls. SHIT WHAT DO I DO?_

Her next decision came from a combination of panic, desperation and remembering that she was drunk so she could play it off as a moment of drunken spontaneity.

She grabbed the closest person besides Caitlyn, who just happened to be Gilby, picked him up and gave him a smack on the lips. Then she dropped the yordle and yelled "KISSES FOR EVERYONE!" To this, the entire bar cheered and Vi set out to kiss pretty much everyone in the room. After getting 7 of the patrons, she felt a firm grip on her arm as she was pulled away from Murph.

"Hey Cupcake! I was gonna kiss him!"

"I could see that!" Caitlyn snapped. She sounded pretty upset. She led the drunken pinkette out of the bar and into the streets.

"Hey there, what's wrong?"

Caitlyn stopped abruptly and spun around. She looked at Vi with fire burning in her eyes. "Really? Can you not see what you did was wrong? You kissed me in front of half of our co-workers!"

"Is that all? It was just a kiss. And I mean like it was a dare."

"Somebody dared you to kiss me?" Caitlyn looked at her with suspicion.

Vi scoffed. "Hell no. That would be crazy! I got dared to kiss the first person who walked into the bar."

"And you're saying that I ended up being the lucky winner?"

"Yep." Vi looked at her with a grin. "So you thought you got lucky? You liked the kiss didn't you?" _Oh gods. Why the void did I just say that? Stupid alcohol! Stupid brain!_

"Yes..." Caitlyn looked almost vulnerable for a moment before her face scrunched up in anger. "That's not the point! Dammit Vi, why do you have to make everything difficult!"

"What are you talking about? Everyone knows that it was just a dare. Actually you pulling me out made it look like you wanted more."

Caitlyn thought about that for a moment before throwing her hands up in the air. "My gods! Why can't anything ever be easy?"

Vi was only partially listening after she heard Caitlyn say yes. _She liked the kiss... SHE ACTUALLY LIKED THE KISS! That means I have a chance... Maybe... I hope... Shit. I drank a lot. I'm not feeling too good._

* * *

Meanwhile, Caitlyn had stormed back into the bar for a moment, silencing the patrons for the second time. She scanned the room before saying in an icily calm voice "If I hear anything about this, on or off duty, anyone involved will get a cut in their paycheck. I know who you are." before turning on her heel and walking back out.

She went over to Vi and half dragged, half led her to her car. It was an expensive vehicle that had been a gift from her parents upon her appointment to sheriff of Piltover. The car was a special order built and designed by Piltover Customs; Heimerdinger's custom vehicle service. As befitting the sheriff, it had a direct link to the police department's network, radio and surveillance system, along with several compartments containing spare ammunition, replacement parts for her rifle, a fully stocked tool kit, spare uniforms, spare clothes, and essentially anything else she might need during her everyday life on and off the job.

At this point, Vi's stomach had reached its critical point and decided that she'd had too much to drink. "Umm Cait, stop for a sec."

Visibly annoyed, Caitlyn gave her an exasperated look. "What now?"

Vi looked up at her. "I'm not feeling too..." before throwing up her lunch and everything she'd consumed since leaving work, all over her chest, barely missing the sheriff's car and boots.

"Damn it all. Look at what you've done. Leaving it like this doesn't feel right to me but we've got to get you cleaned up. You're a total mess and we need to have a talk about your recent misbehavior."

"I can wash myself. Take me home. I don't want to talk.

"Nonsense. You're coming with me and that's final."

"But-"

"No arguing." Caitlyn reached into a pocket behind the front seat and pulled out a towel. "Here, take this and wipe all that off of your chest. I don't want to have to get my car cleaned tomorrow."

* * *

Vi was riding shotgun in a very reclined comfy seat, and struggling to keep the seat belt on, as Caitlyn had threatened to make the seat belt as tight as it would go if she didn't. She propped up the seat to take a look around and realized that the streets they were driving on were both unfamiliar and had houses that were far more expensive than her own apartment.

"Yo Cait."

"Hmm?"

"These streets are way too rich for my place. Where are we going?"

"To my house of course. That is what I said."

Vi's body straightened out immediately. "First of all, you said I was coming with you. Second of all, I never asked to go to your house. And third, why are you taking me to your place?"

Caitlyn pulled over and turned to Vi. "To the first thing, I'm sorry, I phrased it wrong. To the second, you're right, but you should come anyway. And for the third one, you need to get sorted out. It is my responsibility to do that primarily as your friend, and also because your behavior affects how I look as the sheriff. Especially since I got you your job."

Vi shut up for a moment. _Gods... I'm so stupid. I completely forgot about that. She's gotta be pissed as void at me._ "Shit. I'm really sorry Caitlyn. I really fucked up this time. Please don't be mad at me."

Caitlyn's expression softened. "Oh darling, I'm sorry if you thought I'm upset at you. I'm concerned for you. I shouldn't have mentioned our jobs. I'm just under some extra stress right now."

_She called me darling! Gods that felt good!_ "Thanks Cait. I'm sorry I was being a pain in the ass at work today." A smile cracked on the sheriff's face. "And all the other times." Vi blurted out. "And thanks for finishing off my paperwork. I know you did it, and I know that its extra work that you don't have to do. It means a lot to me knowing that you've got my back."

Caitlyn put her hand on the pinkette's shoulder. "We're partners, and more importantly, we're friends. We look out for each other. That's how it works." She paused a moment. "Now look. Its getting late and we need to get you cleaned up, so we can continue our conversation once we are at my place. Does that sound fair?" Vi nodded. "Glad to hear it." Caitlyn shifted the car back into drive and took off down the street.


	10. The Sheriff

This chapter begins approximately one hour after chapter 2

* * *

Caitlyn was going through the stack of damage reports, missing item claims, complaints and all the rest of the paperwork that had accumulated from the last case. Like she had done many times, she was covering for her partner's absence and was working on filling out all of them.

_Sometimes I wonder what possessed me to offer that woman her job... If I consider how many times this has been, let's see... Twelfth? Fifteenth? Seventeenth? Blast it! I can't even remember! When I find her, I'll give her a piece of my mind. She's had this talk coming for quite some time and its about time I give it to her._

After finishing the last of the damage reports, she moved on with a sigh, to the list of complaints that had been filed against her partner.

"Broken windows, cracked windshield, foul language, broken wrist... Well Vi, you certainly get into as much if not more trouble now than you did when you were running from the law instead of with it."

Caitlyn began to fill in these forms when she noticed the clock at 7:05, she realized that it was about time for her to finish up, and head out. After organizing the remaining paperwork so that it could be dealt with quickly for the next day, the Sheriff locked her office and almost missed a page that was taped to the outside of her door. She pulled it off and was about to read the hurriedly scrawled message when something odd caught her eye from inside her deputy's office. She pocketed the note as she peered inside the open doorway and noticed her partner's toolbox left open with its contents scattered on Vi's desk.

_*If she'd left her tools here without even packing them up, something serious must be going on... I'd better find her before she gets into more trouble.*_

* * *

Half an hour later, Caitlyn was knocking on the door of Vi's apartment, hoping that her partner would open up to greet her. After waiting two minutes with no results, the sheriff unlocked the door with the spare key that Vi had given her when she'd moved in. She crept inside, wincing every time a floorboard creaked, looking for any signs of where Vi might be. She was pretty sure that Vi had gone out drinking, and her suspicions were only confirmed when she saw her deputy's signature gauntlets abandoned on a workbench. The pinkette would never risk losing her gauntlets, if she went out drinking, and the only other times she would likely go out without them is to the gym, but the gym was closed. Seeing the messy space that her friend lived in triggered the urge to start cleaning up, but Cait remembered she had to find Vi before she got herself into trouble. Especially since Caitlyn would suffer from it as well as her partner, since Vi's recruitment into the police force had ruffled the feathers of some government officials due to her being a former vigilante. After making sure she'd left everything in its place, she exited the small apartment and locked the door behind her. She had her work set out for her.

* * *

Since she'd always put work before pleasure, Caitlyn had never spent any time with her deputy at bars, so she really didn't know which ones Vi frequented. Based on what she knew about Vi, Caitlyn could safely assume that she wouldn't find her friend in one of the more upper class bars and pubs. She probably wouldn't go somewhere that had very respectable patrons either, in fact, she'd probably be looking for the places where she is most likely to get into a fight. There were several slums where she might have gone based on that reasoning, so the sheriff got in her car and started heading for the nearest one.

She stopped on a dirty street in front of a building with a neon sign that read "XXX BAR XXX".

_*Hope she's here. For gods' sakes, that woman doesn't let anything be easy to deal with when she's involved. For once, please let her be in the first bar I check.*_

Silent prayers like these had become almost like a routine for Caitlyn whenever she went searching for her partner after Vi had ditched work. As of yet, her prayers had never been answered, and it generally took several hours to an entire night to find the pinkette, only to find her at one of the first bars the sheriff had checked, at home, or almost anywhere else that Caitlyn had already look for her at. Her level of intoxication could ranged from slightly buzzed to passed out or throwing up the contents of her stomach, but she was always under the influence of alcohol to some degree. This always led to Caitlyn having an internal debate about why she kept fighting so hard to allow Vi to keep her job, and for every logical reason why she should stop trying so hard, she had an argument to counter it, and when she couldn't think of one, her feelings for her deputy ended any opposition.

_*You love her and you know it. Logic doesn't matter where she's concerned, because you'll fight as hard as you can to get every moment you can spend with her, no matter how much trouble she is.*_

Caitlyn stopped for a moment.

_*So what in Void have you been doing pretending you don't have feelings for her? Damn it Caitlyn, if you love Vi, then why can't you tell her that? The longer you put this off, the worse you'll feel about this._

_I'm going to tell her. I'll tell her how I feel as soon as we're alone together, and then I'll kiss her. Just like how I dreamed it. Of all people, I should know that dreams only come true when you make them happen.*_

After giving herself the pep talk, the sheriff pushed the door open and walked into the bar. Caitlyn found her nose immediately assaulted by the odors of alcohol, bile, and other smells she didn't want to think about, as some old band played on a junky radio set. A few of the people sitting at the tables looked up to see who entered the building but most were too focused on their drinks and fellow drinkers. Cait searched the room for pink hair, but found none. With an annoyed sigh, she walked up to the counter and called over a barmaid.

"Excuse me Miss, I assume you know who I am."

The girl raised an eyebrow and folded her arms across her chest. "Yeah. So what? Am I in trouble?"

Caitlyn gave her a withering look. "No. I have no idea who you are. What I would like to know is if you have seen my partner. Tall, strong, short tempered, and has short pink hair."

"Your partner? Like as in your girlfriend? Wow. I thought you're her boss."

"I meant she's my deputy! Don't say foolish things like that. I don't need people spreading rumors about her or I." She mentally kicked herself as soon as she said that.

_*Why do I have to act like this... Gods, I wish that I knew what to say to her. What am I doing hiding my feelings for Vi?*_

"'Kay fine. Don't get your panties in a bunch. And no. I haven't seen her here. Not in weeks. Last I heard, she doesn't even come to this side of town much anymore. You probably went in the wrong direction."

Caitlyn threw her hands up in the air as she muttered "This is proof that the gods exist and they are mocking me..." and she walked out, slamming the door behind her.

* * *

About half an hour later, Caitlyn had changed directions, and was starting to feel like this was going to end up being a wild goose chase, as it often was. Part of her was worried about Vi, since alcohol often led to bad ideas. Another part of her was upset that Vi was always leaving messes for Caitlyn to clean up. Another felt frustrated that she'd ran off. Then there was the mixup of emotions and romantic thoughts about the pinkette, all creating mental chaos for the Sheriff.

After a few more minutes of driving, Caitlyn realized that she had forgotten about calling Vi's cellphone. At the next red light, she hooked her phone up to her car's speakers and speed dialed her pink haired friend, hoping that she would pick up and answer the call. Sadly, but not altogether unexpectedly, there was no answer, and Caitlyn found herself listening to Vi's voice mail message.

_\- Hey, you've reached me. Um, I mean Vi. Yeah, you have called Vi. I'm busy with something, or I'm on the job, or something else. The point is that I'm not around right now, so just leave a message after the beep and I'll get back to you whenever I hear it and I have time to chat. Alright, thanks for calling or whatever.- -BEEEEEP-_

Caitlyn pulled over and took a deep breath before reciting her message into her phone.

"Vi, its Caitlyn. I don't know where you have disappeared off to, but I'm getting worried. I have some things that we need to talk about. -She paused for a moment- There are some things I need to tell you. Please call me when you get this, as I'm currently looking for you. I'll see you soon. Goodbye."

After a moment, Caitlyn released the breath she'd be subconsciously holding, before smacking the steering wheel several times.

"Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! What the Void did I actually say? She'll get the wrong idea, and make some assumption, and it will be weird, and I have no idea what I'm doing! Or maybe she will figure it out, I mean like she is quite intelligent, but maybe she won't want to talk to me if she knows what I want to tell her... Ugh, why is everything so complicated?"

* * *

Caitlyn felt like she was back in school again, and she was worrying about some cute boy who had caught her attention for some reason or another. The differences between now and then were first and foremost that Vi was certainly not a high school boy, and she was also her partner at work. If having a same sex relationship didn't complicate things enough with her family, dating a co-worker would.

Caitlyn's mother was a scientist whose research and discoveries in the field of hextech engineering had earned her quite a name for herself in the scientific community that Piltover was so well known for. Her father was a very wealthy statesman. Both of them came from aristocratic families and while she had never asked them about it, Cait was fairly sure that they had more conservative views and opinions on how they wanted their daughter to turn out.

The media was as bad as vultures when it came to some simple thing that they could blow out of proportion if it would make good headlines. It didn't help that both of her parents also had public images to uphold and she was quite certain that if the various news networks who claimed to bring the important stories to the citizens of Valoran were to write a story about her and Vi, there would be trouble. Caitlyn imagined that a "news" report saying that the daughter of William and Annabelle Whitacre had a lesbian lover as a deputy who she had recruited off of the streets a few years earlier, would probably ruin or severely damage the reputations that they had meticulously worked to earn.

Her mother was almost appalled when her little girl had told her at the age of sixteen that she wanted to go straight into law enforcement as soon as she graduated from High School. Her mother's standpoint was that if something were to happen to her that caused her to leave the force, then she would need something she could fall back on, and she would need some training in a university. Caitlyn's response was that she could easily make a living as a private detective. When she tracked down the thieves who'd robbed her father two years earlier, and had assisted her school with the discovery and apprehension of student vandals and petty thieves, she'd made it clear that "catching the bad guys" was something that she excelled at.

Eventually her mother had given up trying to convince the Sheriff to be that she should keep going with school, and relented reasoning that if Caitlyn was going to get herself into trouble as a police officer, she had best be prepared. This preparation ended up being training with several hextech devices and enhancements that often found use in Caitlyn's present day work. These ranged from the optical lenses on what became her signature hat to hextech EMP grenades. The grenades were used less frequently once people on the road would find their cars shutting down as a car sped by with several police cruisers on its tail, causing more traffic problems than the driver who the grenades were meant to catch. On the other hand, the lenses found themselves at use whenever she wanted a closer look at evidence, tinker with something on her equipment, appear busy when she wanted to be left alone, or when she needed to decipher her partner's slightly legible chicken scratch whenever Vi left her a note for something she needed, wanted to complain about, or to excuse herself for taking off from work.

That last thought led her from her parents back to Vi, which reminded her why she was even out in her car. As she did almost every time she'd been in a similar situation, she mentally listed everything she knew or didn't.

_*Well, I know that she drinks on this side of Piltover, or more specifically, this side of the slums. I also know that she didn't take her gauntlets with her so any damage caused will hopefully be minimal. I have a hunch she's upset about something that happened after she took Jayce back to his place, since she was acting normal before that happened..._

_Wait a moment, what am I going to do about Jayce? The government refuses to take action against Viktor due to the already tense diplomatic situation between Piltover and Zaun, but he claims that Piltover could be in serious danger if we don't do something soon... No, no, no. You can't be thinking about that right now. You have your best friend to find right now, and knowing her, she could be getting herself in trouble. You can not afford to be distracted right now._

_Let's see now... She drinks here, she left her gauntlets at home, and she's probably upset about something that happened on the ride over to Jayce's house. So what don't I know? Well for starters, I don't know where she drinks beyond within this general area. I also don't know what has made her so upset. I don't know if she will call me back if she even received my message. I don't know what I will say to her when I find her, and I don't know how she feels about me. That has to change tonight. I'm going to find her, make her talk to me and tell me what's going on, and then I'm going to confess my feelings for her. I'm done pretending and hiding my feelings from her. I need to know how she feels about me.*_

It was then that she remembered that she had forgotten about about the note she'd found on her door. She pulled out the slightly crumpled sheet of paper and read out the legible bits to herself.

-Vi called in at ... Said she needs to clear her head... ...Ditched work again... ...I'd send somebody 2 keep an eye on her. The office had cupcakes. Left 1 in fridge 4 u.

-Marty-

The sheriff smacked a palm on her forehead as she came to the realization that she had several officers who were off duty, but would be happy to lend a hand, if not for the sake of her insufferable partner, then for her own.

She took out her phone and went through the list of her co-workers, skipping over those who she was certain would hopefully be available. She found seven names who should have been available, but her call was answered for the first time by the third person.

"Hello, you have reached Sergeant Murphman. How can I help you?"

"Hi Murph, its me, Caitlyn."

"Oh, well what can I do for you Sheriff?"

"I need a favor from you. Also, please just call me Caitlyn when we're off duty. I'm not just your superior, I'm also your friend too remember?"

"Yes, of course. I'll try to keep that in mind. So, what do ya need?"

"Well, its about Vi."

"She took off and you need help to find her?"

"That sums it up quite nicely actually. Hold on a moment, how did you know?"

"I heard Marty on the phone with her. I picked up what he said and filled in the rest when you mentioned the rookie."

"You know how she would react if she heard you call her that Murph."

"Yeah, yeah, she'd probably slug me in the gut, but for old timers like me, she's still a kid. You are too, but you've been working with the force for a few years now. How long has it been? Four? Five?"

"Its been five years, if you must know, but that's irrelevant. And you're barely thirty seven years old. Since when did you become an old timer?"

"Since I finished my fifteenth year as an officer. That's longer than anyone else who is still actively on duty."

"Alright fair enough. But back to the matter at hand. Can you help?"

"I'm your man. Just tell me what to do boss." Caitlyn sighed in annoyance at being called "Boss" which caused Murphman to chuckle quietly.

"Cut it out! You know I hate it when you call me that. Its not funny!

" Ha! Yes it is, and you know it. You just don't like to be reminded about how you're married to your work."

"No I'm not."

"Is that so?"

"Yes. Yes it is."

"Well then, when was the last time you went on a date with anyone?"

"What? Oh, I don't know... Maybe a few months ago. I can't remember."

"See? My point is proven."

"No it isn't! And how is my love life relevant to this?"

"Would your lack of dates have anything to do with the arrival of our pink haired colleague?"

"What are you implying?"

"Don't avoid the question."

Caitlyn took a deep breath and sighed before she responded. "Murph."

"Yes?"

"How did you know?"

"When you've been a cop as long as I have, you learn how to look at people. If you look for the right signs, and you pay attention, you can find out a lot about a person without ever talking to them."

"If you can see that with me, then what does it look like for her?"

"Now, now Caitlyn. You know I can't answer that."

"Why not?"

"Because that would be cheating. You of all people should understand the need for certain rules in life. Not interfering with the love lives of others is one such rule."

"While I can appreciate what you are saying, I'm seriously resenting it at the moment."

"You've stared down armed criminals who had gun pointed at you, you've nearly been killed several times, and once, you were even shot. You have looked death in the face and laughed so many times I've lost count. If you could manage that and still come out as well as you have, you can talk to her about this stuff."

"No I can't."

"Yes you can. I'll start checking some of the nearby watering holes for any sign of Vi. You do whatever you need to to get yourself ready to talk to her."

"Okay. Thank you."

"Any time."

_-Click-_

* * *

_*He's right. I do need to talk to her about all of this. Even if I do get rejected, well... No, never mind. Don't go there Caitlyn. You don't need to think about that right now. What matters is finding Vi and finding a place where we can talk in private. After that, things will fall into place. If they don't, I'll worry about them then. I need more help. Let's see who is next... Ah. Patsy. She's certainly reliable. Let's see if she can help.*_

Patsy answered halfway through the first ring.

"Patsy here. Who is this?"

"Its Caitlyn. I was hoping you could do me a favor."

"Shoot."

"Vi took off and didn't tell me where she went. I wanted to know if you could keep an eye out for her."

"Will do."

"But please don't let this get in the way of your evening. I'm sure she'll turn up eventually."

"She always does."

"Okay, thanks a lot."

"Later."

"Goodbye Pats."

_-Click-_

_*Well that was quick...*_

* * *

The last two names she had to call were Jackson, and Gilby. She decided on checking up on the Hexplosives tinkerer first, partially to make sure he wasn't doing anything overly dangerous at the moment.

After the first three rings, she got suspicious. Half way through the fifth ring, Gilby picked up the phone.

"Gilby here. Whatcha want?"

"First I'm checking in, to make sure you're not endangering the public again, and second -"

She was cut off as Gilby started shouting at something on his side of the call.

"Hey, stop. No! Cut it out you stupid machine! Put that tool down!"

"Gilby! Are you fooling around with one of the androids again? I explicitly forbade you from adding an explosive function to them!"

"Hold on a sec sheriff." A scraping sound was heard in the background. "Hey, Hey you! Stop moving around! You're going to tear out your arm."

"Gilby..." Caitlyn's voice gained an edge in frustration.

"I'm not playing with my toys. Don't worry about that. Remember Nik? That android we've got? The one who has lasted five months so far?"

_*What is he going on about?*_

-sigh- "Yes, I remember number eighteen. What about it?"

"Well he busted up his arm, and so I am trying to fix him. We need him to drive us home when we're too drunk to stand up straight."

"What do you mean he busted up his arm? Actually, forget I even asked about it, I don't want to know. Just don't hurt anyone. And by the way, who is "we"?"

"Me, Sarge, Jackson, Patsy and the guy I'm trying to fix."

"When you say Sarge, do you mean Sergeant Murphman?"

"Yeah, him. Umm... what did you want to ask me about?"

"Hmm? Oh yes, Vi decided to run off again, I assume to get drunk, and I can't find her. I have some things I need to talk to her about, and I'd rather find her before she gets herself into trouble. I wanted to ask you if you could keep an eye out for her."

"Yeah sure, no problem. I'll give you a call or something if I find her, as soon as I finish fixing Nik's arm."

"Alright then. Can you also pass on my request to Jackson?"

"Sure. Whatever you want."

"Thank you, and try not to blow yourself up."

"Ha! Will do. Later Caitlyn."

_-Click-_

_*Now that that's been dealt with, I can focus on searching for Vi.*_

Without a clue as to where her friend might be, the sheriff opened up her Road maps application on her phone and realized she would have to search every bar within seven kilometers.

"This is going to be a long night..."


	11. The Sheriff (continued)

Caitlyn sighed as she walked out of another bar without any sign of her deputy. "That's number five..."

_For the city-state known as the "City of Progress", there seems to be an excessive amount of bars here, and very rarely have I seen alcohol cause progression in anything beyond addiction and stupid mistakes._

Over the past half hour, Caitlyn had been busy combing the nearby bars to try and find a trace of Vi, to no avail. She felt like Vi might even be avoiding her for some reason. Perhaps it was the paperwork, but even though she abandoned her paperwork regularly to do whatever she felt was more enjoyable at the time, or to simply get away from the boredom that came quickly to the hot headed twenty year old woman. It was a bit of a surprise for Caitlyn when she realized that she was as young as her partner. Vi's teenage attitude appeared quite immature in comparison to the Sheriff's disciplined behavior, which often left Caitlyn feeling like she was Vi's older sister. When she thought about it, she was not even sure about which of the two were older. It startled her to think that somehow, Caitlyn had never found out Vi's birthday, but knowing the pinkette, she probably never filled in the initial paperwork properly.

_That's another thing that is going to change. I am going to have to make sure she finishes all of her responsibilities before she gets to leave work, paperwork included._

"Of all the things I don't know about her, how don't I know her birthday? I mean really Caitlyn, you should know this. She's your best friend for the gods' sakes. I've known her for close to four years now, why haven't I asked her about this? Wait a sec, I shouldn't be wasting time. I'll be able to ask her as many questions as I want but only after I manage to find her."

BZZZZZZ

Caitlyn reached for her phone in one of her pockets to find a text message waiting for her.

**I'm with Gilby, Patsy and Jackson. We found Vi and we went to the Gear. Sorry we forgot to tell you until now. We're gonna try to keep her here, but you should try to get here soon.**

**-Murph-**

Her pulse quickened at the thought of seeing Vi. Partly in excitement, but she was also quite nervous about everything that she had decided she would say to Vi. Calling Vi unpredictable would be an understatement. Caitlyn had no idea how Vi would respond to what she was going to tell her, but she knew there was a chance that Vi would have taken off by the time she got to the bar.

After getting back in her car and starting it up, she realized that she didn't know where the "Gear" was, so she opened up her GPS and started checking for bars with Gear in the name. She found several bars in Piltover with names like The Golden Gear, The Cracked Gear and Gears 'n Grog. She also saw a handful of locations that were as far out as Demacia, Bandle City, and anything in between.

_Well isn't that helpful... Hopefully Murph can direct me in the right direction._

**I don't know where the Gear is. The GPS can't tell me which one it is. What is the bar called?**

It took Murph a few minutes before he answered her.

**Sorry about that. The Gear is the nickname we have for The Golden Gear. She's still here, and getting pretty drunk. I'm afraid she's going to do something stupid so hurry up if you don't mind.**

The sheriff checked the GPS and found the bar she was looking for. It was about ten minutes drive away from where she was. She let out a sigh of relief as she put in the directions and headed off to The Golden Gear.

* * *

The bar seemed like a lively place to Caitlyn as she pulled over at a parking spot. The building itself was built on the split in a fork in a street, so that it would have as much space visible from the outside. It had two floors, with orange tinted windows, so she could see the silhouettes of patrons making all the noise, but as she approached the sound quickly died down.

_Sounds like somebody is on lookout duty._

By the time she got close to the door, the bar seemed almost silent.

_That's odd. Even if somebody was trying to cut down the noise for a police officer, people would still be talking... Something is off here._

She accelerated to a brisk pace as she approached the door, figuring that whatever had the bar so quiet involved Vi to some degree, and that probably wasn't anything good. She grabbed the door handle, and as she pushed it open, a slender arm reached out and grabbed hers. Before she could say anything, Caitlyn was yanked inside and found herself locking lips with somebody.

* * *

Her first thought was was to pull away until she noticed a few strands of pink hair that were draping over the right eye of the woman who was kissing her. When she realized who had her lips pressed against her, she was so stunned her mind went blank. The rest of the bar seemed to be a million kilos away for her as her attention became solely on the kiss. In that moment, the only thing that mattered to her was how right everything felt. It was as if time froze for her, and the only thing in the world was her lips against Vi's. She took note of everything she saw and felt and etched it into her mind. She didn't want to forget even the slightest detail about that moment.

_I must be dreaming, but oh my Gods, if this is a dream, I don't want to wake up any time soon._

Then a voice from behind Vi said something, and just like that, the spell was broken. Vi went rigid, and her eyes flew open, staring directly at Caitlyn. Several strong emotions could clearly be seen on her face but as to which ones, Caitlyn couldn't tell, but for a moment, she could have sworn she'd seen excitement in Vi's eyes.

Left breathless from the kiss as she was, all she could do was stand there as Vi picked up Gilby, gave him a sloppy smooch and dropped him on the table. She then threw her arms in the air and yelled "KISSES FOR EVERYONE!" to which nearly the entire crowd of drunk people cheered and raised their mugs. It took Caitlyn a minute before she get to Vi and pull her away from Murph, to which he gave her a grateful look. Vi spun around, clearly annoyed.

"Hey Cupcake! I was gonna kiss him!"

"I could see that!"

Shoving the doors open, Caitlyn dragged Vi outside, and as she was walking, Vi pulled her wrist out of Caitlyn's grasp and said "Hey there, what's wrong?"

Caitlyn turned on her heel and looked at Vi with fury in her eyes. "Really? Can you not see what you did was wrong? You kissed me in front of half of our co-workers!"

"Is that all? It was just a kiss. And I mean like it was a dare."

_Who the Void put her up to this?_ "Somebody dared you to kiss me?"

Vi scoffed. "Hell no. That would be crazy! I got dared to kiss the first person who walked into the bar."

"And you're saying that I ended up being the lucky winner?"

"Yep." Vi gave her a cocky grin. "So you thought you got lucky? You liked the kiss didn't you?"

Before she could stop herself, "Yes..." slipped out of her mouth._ Blast it! Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!_ "That's not the point! Dammit Vi, why do you have to make everything difficult!"

"What are you talking about? Everyone knows that it was just a dare. Actually you pulling me out made it look like you wanted more."

_Dammit, she's right. I'd better deal with this quickly, before anyone says anything._ "My gods! Why can't anything ever be easy?"

* * *

When Caitlyn stepped inside the doors for the second time, the bar turned as silent as the first time. After looking over the room and its patrons, she narrowed her eyes as she addressed all its occupants. "If I hear anything about this, on or off duty, anyone involved will get a cut in their paycheck. I know who you are." That should leave an impression. Feeling fairly confidant that word of what just happened would stay between the witnesses of the kiss.

As she walked out the door, the first thing she noticed was how her car was parked with one wheel on the curb of the sidewalk. _Was I really that focused on finding Vi that I did that?_

The car was a Piltover Customs special order that her parents had commissioned from Heimerdinger as a sort of congratulations gift when she was promoted to Sheriff. She took a moment to admire the vehicle, knowing she would never have been able to afford it on her own. It suited her to a T in terms of the perfect balance of class, beauty, and versatility. The machine looked sleek, smooth, aerodynamic, and almost feline. It was colored a metallic white with silver accents, and a silver hood ornament of Piltover's gear shaped crest on the very front. Since Janna's forecast had said there would be clear skies all night, the convertible's had been lowered. The seating of the car could fit two in the front, and could seat three in the back without much squishing so long as none of the passengers in the back were too big, and the seats were designed for comfort, and could recline to become a bed in the case that Caitlyn needed to sleep on the road.

While the external, superficial aspects of the car were somewhat lavish, it was designed to hold nearly everything she might need on of off the job. She had hidden compartments containing equipment such as ammunition, replacement parts and components to make repairs on her trusty sniper and tools to work on it. Hidden under the back seats was a space for clothing such as extra pairs of her police uniforms and her signature purple outfit. She'd learned to keep a few dresses in the car as well in the case that her life as the Sheriff would be pushed to the side by being the daughter of upper class Piltovians, as it had on several occasions. She didn't enjoy the distractions, but if that was the price for all of the good things her parents provided for her, she would bear the burden with good grace.

When she first joined the force, she'd made it a goal to exceed expectations wherever possible, would meet them where it wasn't, and would put in everything she had to make that happen. As a result, she performed alarmingly well assisting in cases as a rookie, and then solving several that had been put on hold, due to lack of evidence and the like. As she rose through the ranks, she became the pride of the precinct, and eventually the talk of the town for her nearly flawless record, and her growing reputation as a beauty and a sharpshooter. The one blemish on that otherwise spotless record was the theft of a diamond from a statesman's home, a theft that would be later on be determined to be the early work of "C", before he began to leave his calling card as he did with his series of heists in Demacia.

Following the retirement of the Chief of Police, almost the entire force had signed a petition to give Caitlyn the position, unbeknownst to the young lieutenant, and sent to Piltover's government to sign it and grant the request. Due to the constraints of bureaucracy, policy and rules, the official title of "Chief of Police" had been deemed unfit to designate to an officer who has had less than ten years of service, regardless of the officer in question's contributions to the force and to the city, and the fact that Caitlyn had already taken on a large portion of the chief's nonessential responsibilities in an effort to become more useful within the force. As a way to get around the issue, Sergeant Murphman had suggested to the retiring Chief that perhaps a workaround would be to bring the position of Sheriff back from Piltover's past, and just assign the same duties as the Chief of Police, with some alterations as the government saw fit. Surprisingly, the majority of the legislators were for the proposition, and to her surprise, Caitlyn found herself being given the gold star badge and promotion to Sheriff of Piltover. While it took her a few weeks to get used to the new responsibilities and powers that came with running the police force, which she had already been somewhat doing before, she fit the job perfectly, and within half a year, Piltover had become a model for the police forces of every other city and city state in Valoran.

She found Vi leaning against a light post. She grabbed her wrist and led her to Caitlyn's car, almost dragging her when Vi started to lag behind. She was frustrated enough that she might have literally thrown Vi into the back seat, but she pulled away before Caitlyn could. "Umm Cait, stop for a sec."

Caitlyn's patience was beginning to run thin. "What now?"

Vi looked up at her, saying "I'm not feeling too..." before she was cut off as she threw up, spilling all over her chest.

_Ugh. Just another reason why not to drink alcohol._

Gingerly stepping around the mess, she put her hand on Vi's arm. "Damn it all. Look at what you've done. Leaving it like this doesn't feel right to me but we've got to get you cleaned up. You're a total mess and we need to have a talk about your recent misbehavior."

Vi shrugged her hand off. "I can wash myself. Take me home. I don't want to talk."

"Nonsense. You're coming with me and that's final."

"But-"

"No arguing." Where is it? Ah yes, there we go. From one of the many pockets hidden in the front seat Caitlyn withdrew a clean towel and placed it into Vi's hands. "Here, take this and wipe all that off of your chest. I don't want to have to get my car cleaned tomorrow."

* * *

Caitlyn was struggling to focus on the road thanks to the events of the past half an hour, and the fact that Vi was sitting right beside her. At the moment, she had her seat reclined, far enough that Caitlyn had threatened to force the seat completely upright with the seat belt uncomfortably tight if Vi couldn't keep the seat belt on properly. She noticed Vi raise the back of the seat a bit to see Caitlyn better.

"Yo Cait."

_Keep watching the road, keep watching the road._ "Hmm?"

"These streets are way too rich for my place. Where are we going?"

"To my house of course. That is what I said." Oh no... This could end badly. Don't back down Caitlyn, you need to have a serious talk but you need to get home to go that.

Vi went rigid, and would have sat straight up but the seat belt caught her, and she flopped back down. "First of all, you said I was coming with you. Second of all, I never asked to go to your house. And third, why are you taking me to your place?"

_Pull over. You can't talk to her and drive at the same time right now. _Caitlyn pulled over, and turned to face Vi. "To the first thing, I'm sorry, I phrased it wrong. To the second, you're right, but you should come anyway. And for the third one, you need to get sorted out. It is my responsibility to do that primarily as your friend, and also because your behavior affects how I look as the sheriff. Especially since I got you your job."

Vi stopped talking and thought about it for a pause before blurting out "Shit. I'm really sorry Caitlyn. I really fucked up this time. Please don't be mad at me."

_Dammit. Dammit. Dammit. Why did I bring up our job?_ Caitlyn tried to soften her expression. "Oh darling, I'm sorry if you thought I'm upset at you. I'm concerned for you. I shouldn't have mentioned our jobs. I'm just under some extra stress right now."

Vi seemed to relax a bit after that. "Thanks Cait. I'm sorry I was being a pain in the ass at work today."

Caitlyn gave her a hint of a smile, as if to say "Just today?"

"And all the other times." Vi blurted out. "And thanks for finishing off my paperwork. I know you did it, and I know that its extra work that you don't have to do. It means a lot to me knowing that you've got my back."

Caitlyn reached out and put her hand on her friend's shoulder. "We're partners, and more importantly, we're friends. We look out for each other. That's how it works." She stopped for a breath, before continuing. "Now look. Its getting late and we need to get you cleaned up, so we can continue our conversation once we are at my place. Does that sound fair?" Vi nodded. "Glad to hear it." Caitlyn shifted the car back into drive and took off down the street.

* * *

By the time Caitlyn pulled into the driveway of her house, Vi was already starting to nod off. She nudged the half asleep woman to let her know to get up. "Hey, we're here."

Vi groaned as the seat automatically folded itself back into its original position, forcing her to sit up. "Damn Cait, what the Void is with your car?"

Caitlyn let out a short laugh. "Its just a setting I have on. If you want to take a nap, you can do that after we get you cleaned up and I whip up something for us to eat."

The mention of food got Vi's attention, and she practically jumped out of the car. "Thank the gods for food. And a shower. Where do I go first?"

Trust food to get your attention. Caitlyn put her hand out to stop Vi from trying to barge through her front door. "Hold on a moment. Let me show you where the shower is before you go exploring."

"Ha! Don't worry about that. Leave the exploring to Ezreal. Just give me a place to chill after my shower is done."

The Sheriff unlocked her front door and walked inside raising her hand, signaling to follow with her fingers. Once Vi was inside and she'd closed the door behind her, Caitlyn explained some of the house rules.

"First of all, take off your boots. You can leave them over there right beside mine. Second, take off that jacket-"

"Its a hoodie."

"What? Oh, whatever. Don't interrupt me. Give it to me. I'll put it into the washing. It smells terrible, and I refuse to allow it to stink up my house." Without waiting for Vi to hand it to her, Caitlyn took the garment by a sleeve and rolled it up. "Now then, follow me. Its time you got to the bathroom for a well needed shower."

* * *

After Caitlyn explained where everything was and Vi was ready, she left her to undress and get washed up. Then Caitlyn went to her dresser, picked out a t-shirt and pants, went back to the washroom, and quietly swapped Vi's clothing for the replacements. She threw the dirty clothes and hoodie into the washing machine and started a washing cycle. After all that was done, she went to the kitchen to get started on the meal she'd promised her deputy.

_But what can I cook that I know Vi would like? Hmm... Think Cait. You can figure this out. It has to be a meal. She's going to be hungry since she threw up whatever she'd eaten, and I missed dinner again, since I was working late again._

She had a glance at the counter to make sure she had room to cook and to try and think of something she could make. She noticed the clock on the counter showed 1:27. _Have we really been out that long? It can't have been that long... Hold on, if its already morning, I'll just make breakfast. But will she read too far into that? Will she get weirded out by it? When she realized where her train of thought was going, she smacked herself on the forehead. Oh no Caitlyn, don't you dare go there. You are not going to let yourself back out of this because you got cold feet. You are going to make breakfast and you are going to decide what you're going to make right now. Maybe the fridge will tell me what to make._

_Since I haven't cooked for her before, I should do something simple to start... Upon opening the fridge, the first things she noticed were eggs, cheese, and bacon. Hmm... Simple, but tasty... What's simple but tasty? OH! I'll make an omelette... but how do I do that?_

Thankfully for the aethernet, Caitlyn found a quick recipe and was well on her was to cooking up a hopefully tasty omelette when Vi walked into the living room.

The living room and the kitchen were connected by a window of open space in the wall that separated the rooms, with a sofa against the dividing wall in the living room, and a counter on the kitchen side. Vi plopped herself onto the couch and stretched her legs out over an armrest. "Nice place you've got here Cupcake."

"Thank you. My parents offered me a larger house when I decided to move out but I'd take quality over quantity any day." _Damn, that must have sounded stupid. I hope she didn't notice._

"Yeah, I hear ya. And like this is way bigger than my apartment. How many people were supposed to live here?"

"It was designed to house two people."

"And you live all alone? You must get lonely here dontcha?" Vi looked over the counter to give Caitlyn a lewd grin.

_Don't fall for her jibes Caitlyn. You know what she's doing, but don't play into her hand... Unless that's what she wants you to do... Stop thinking like that. She's not a criminal you are trying to understand. She's just drunk, and probably bored. Quit over thinking things._ "What are you getting at?"

"I'm gonna ask you a question, and you're going to answer me straight. Got it?"

This makes me worried about what's coming up. "Umm, alright."

"When was the last time you got laid?"

Caitlyn facepalmed._ Gods be damned._ "Okay, I take it back. No more talking. The food is ready. Now sit up if you want to eat."

Vi let out a sharp laugh in amusement at that. "Sounds good to me. I'm starving! So what did you make?"

"An omelette. Its my first time making one so I'm sorry if its not very good."

"Sounds good to me, but why did you make breakfast in the middle of the night."

"Actually, your antics took longer than you expected. Its actually... One moment," She looked back at the clock. "Its 2:05 in the morning. So technically, you're having an early breakfast."

"Well played Cait. Now pass me a plate. I can smell it and all I care about is having it in my mouth."

Caitlyn just looked at her.

"Really? No reaction to that? Okay, sorry. When I'm drunk I make sex jokes a lot and say stupid shit- oops, I mean stupid stuff."

"I'm still holding your plate Vi."

"You won't make me beg for it will you?"

_Oh you bet I will. _Caitlyn gave her a sly grin and held the plate over the sink "Well, nobody said you have to eat it."

That got Vi up on her feet, and in . "You wouldn't..."

Cait raised an eyebrow. "Want to try me?"

Vi seemed to be thinking it over before looking back at Caitlyn and said "Nope."

Feeling somewhat deflated, Caitlyn put the plate on the counter. As she turned all she saw was Vi's pink head hurtling towards her from over the divider. She only had time to let out a shriek before Vi crashed into her and sent her falling backwards into the kitchen door. The door opened outwards when their combined weight hit it, and they spilled into the carpeted hall. Caitlyn landed on her back and Vi barely managed to catch herself before she would have fallen on top of Cait. For a moment, the two women had their faces close enough that either one could have reached out their neck to kiss the other, and unbeknownst to each other, both desperately wanted to. To continue the kiss that had happened less than two hours earlier, but neither one could find the courage to go with it and risk rejection. After a few seconds, Vi's face went bright red and she looked away as she pushed herself off of Caitlyn, mumbling apologies.

For a second time that night, the pink haired girl had left Caitlyn breathless and speechless. She sat up and watched as Vi picked up her plate and clambered back over the counter to sit on the couch, clearly embarrassed.

_I need to talk to her now. It might be the only chance I get._

She picked up her own plate and walked around the counter to sit in a chair opposite the couch. The two of them sat and ate for a minute before Vi broke the silence.

"Its good."

"Really? You think so?"

Vi snorted. "I wouldn't have said so if I didn't mean it." She paused before continuing. "Thank you. For everything. You don't have to do any of this but you still do. I keep screwing up but no matter what, you forgive me. I'm tired of screwing up and I really do want to fix things. You've been so good to me, and you've tried your best to help me, and I know that I've turned your life into a mini Void at times, and for all of that, I'm sorry. And... Umm... Uh... What I'm trying to say is I..." She trailed off before she finished her sentence.

"You what?"

Vi looked away. "Nothing. Never mind."

As curious as she was, Caitlyn felt the need to tell Vi her feelings came first. "Alright. There's something I need to tell you Vi, and-"

Vi put her hand up as she interrupted the Sheriff. "Not now Cait. I just... I just need some rest right now, and if what you need to say is important, I'm going to need a clear head, which I definitely don't have right now. I'm really sorry, and I really do care about what you have to say, but I just can't handle anything else right now. I'm pretty much at my limit. So can you please show me a bed, or should I just conk out on the sofa?"

_I'm not going to get anywhere with her tonight... Blast it!_ Caitlyn gave a sigh in resignation before taking Vi's plate and setting it on the counter across the divider. "Alright, but after you wake up, we are going to talk. Understood?"

Vi nodded, and stood up. "When I wake up."

Caitlyn led Vi to the second bedroom, and stood in the doorway as she watched Vi flop onto the bed and fall asleep within seconds. Then she went and brushed her teeth before getting into her own bed.

_When she wakes up, we'll sort everything_-

She was asleep before she could finish the thought.


	12. Creating the Hammer

Jayce stood over his workbench, thoughts and emotions of the past few days raced through his mind while he tinkered with his weapon. "Come on… come on, come on, come on…" Jayce muttered as he tried to charge up the cannon. "Just work for me will you?" The hum of energy pulsing through the Hextech Capacitor crescendoed as a blue sphere of plasma grew in size. The orb illuminated the dimly lit room as it grew only to plunge it back into darkness when it winked away. "Dammit!" Jayce exclaimed in frustration as he tossed the weapon onto his workbench.

_I need to do something else. I can't keep working on the hammer in this state. I need to focus myself._

* * *

Jayce stepped out of his workshop, the automatic lock closing the door behind him, and walked into a room he called his "Focus Space". He looked over the room. Inside the room was a mishmash of different things such as an armchair and bookshelf, a writer's desk with sketchpads and pencils, a chessboard, a guitar, a map of Valoran and the surrounding islands and oceans, and a punching bag in a corner. His eyes settled on the punching bag as he made his decision.

* * *

He shrugged off his jacket and tossed it onto the armchair. Walking towards the punching bag his mind turned to the thoughts that had been plaguing him.

_Ezreal… Why would you abandon me? _

_**Punch**_

_When did you lose the faith you'd had in me for so long?_

_**Punch**_

_You were the last person I would have expected to walk away._

_**Punch**_

_I thought that you of all people would have stood by my side._

_**Punch**_

_Why?_

_**Punch**_

_Why?_

_**Punch**_

"WHY DAMMIT!"

He allowed his emotions to take full control as he clenched his fist and lunged towards the bag with renewed vigour.

"_It's when you do stuff like this that I really hate you Jayce"_

_**Punch**_

_**Punch**_

"_You're my best friend"_

_**Punch**_

_**Punch**_

_**Punch**_

"_I'm not going to watch you die!"_

The bag swung back with each new strike until he gave a roar and drove his entire weight into the bag slamming it against the wall, colliding with the padding that had been set up for such occasions.

Once his arms began to ache and his lungs began to burn, he stopped and stepped back to breathe, a sense of catharsis washed over him. With the feelings of confusion and anger lessened, his head began to clear.

_I need to get back to work._

He retrieved his coat from the armchair and put it back on.

_As to the charge up rate, perhaps I could adjust the levels of electricity I run through the capacitor so that the energy levels balance out better…_

He began to take apart the hammer in his mind as he returned to his workshop, fresh ideas already coming together in his head.

* * *

Now that he'd managed to stabilize his charged plasma shots by converting them into three weaker bolts fired at maximum speed, he wanted to test out the limits of his hammer mode. He made his way over to a closet near the back and swung open it's doors revealing a small collection of spare parts and miscellaneous tools. After some digging he came across his demo mannequins. Satisfied with his discovery he pulled it out and moved it to the center of the room. After wrestling it into position Jayce walked back over to the other end of his workshop where his hammer lay on a table and picked it up.

A soft hum of electricity began to fill the room as Jayce powered up the weapon, this time in its hammer mode. He revved up the capacitor, filling the hammer's head with electricity for a charged strike and swung the hammer with all his might. The stored power surged into the test dummy spreading out, firing little bolts of lighting all around the room. A few of them hit Jayce giving him a nasty shock, but after taking a five minute breather, he was back to work, his mind set on creating a shield to prevent the electricity from hitting him again.

Jayce's shield would turn out to be a discovery that would save his life more than once in the upcoming fight with Viktor. He found what he was looking for in the electrical field generated by the Hextech Capacitor. The "Liquid Magic" in the capacitor found a new use by creating a neutralizing field that protected Jayce from what he dubbed the "Lightning Field".

* * *

Jayce only had a few things left to work out for his hammer. The most important of these was the acceleration gate. On his first test, he tried firing a shock blast through the gate, but the plasma ball slowed down instead. Fifteen minutes later, for his second test, he fired through the gate and nothing happened. After adjusting a few things, he tried again and the shock blast fired significantly faster, and the resulting explosion was a great deal more powerful than he expected. So powerful in fact that the blast blew a hole in the wall of the workshop.

Deciding that he could still run some tests with the acceleration gate as it was, he gingerly stepped around it to get a test dummy from his closet. Considering the result of the shock blast, he figured that touching the gate would be a bad idea. He propped up the mannequin in front of the gate and gave it a powerful kick, sending it sprawling straight into the gate. It catapulted into the rubble of the broken wall with a crash, dust and dirt flew everywhere. Once the air had cleared enough to see, Jayce stepped over to the wall to examine the mannequin. He was surprised to find only the top half of the dummy propped up by a piece of the wall. After a bit of looking he found the bottom half underneath a couple of broken cinder blocks.

_That could have been me. _

"That's going to need some more adjusting…"

* * *

After a few more hours of testing, tinkering and time in the focus room, Jayce decided to call it quits. He was more or less satisfied with everything he'd worked on for the hammer, aside from a few kinks that he couldn't figure out how to fix. He checked the time and was surprised to see that it was almost two in the morning. He packed up his equipment and locked up his workshop, then crossed the hallway to the main bathroom for a shower.

He'd spent about half a year designing and building his bathroom to suit his needs and preferences. He'd emptied out a large storage room that was serving no purpose and with the assistance of some of his android help, built a wall dividing the area into two sections. The "room" that opened up to the hall had the toilet, sink, mirror, a shower and cabinets filled with everything he would hope to find from cosmetics to hygiene products. The second room had a tub, a shower, a set of body mirrors, and even a small sauna. Thanks to some careful planning and the occasional alteration of a wall, Jayce had succeeded in filling up the space with everything he'd wanted without it feeling cramped.

He stopped in the first room for a moment to check the mirror.

The face that stared back had oil stains and dirt in little flecks on his cheeks and forehead. The space that was covered by his work goggles was considerably cleaner. His eyes were somewhat bloodshot, and his lack of sleep had begun to show with a slightly red tint, and darkening circles that had begun to shadow his eyes. He had a small cut on his forehead had closed up nicely thanks to the help of Piltover's Emergency Response Team. His hair still had some dust and dirt from Viktor's attack on his lab. A number of strands had decided to stick out at random spots which refused to stay down when he'd run his hand through them. Checking the clock on the counter, indicated that it was 2:03, reminding him that he was going to need at least some sleep before he left for Zaun. "That's enough of that. Better wash up before it gets too late."

* * *

He started running the water and let it warm up. As he undressed, he opened up a hamper in the wall, picked up the clothing, and dropped them down a chute that would take them to the laundry room for him to deal with later, or more likely send one of his robotic workers to clean for him.

He checked over his new bruises in the body mirrors and grimaced. The painkillers were finally wearing off and it was the first time he'd taken a look at the punishment his body had taken back at his lab. There was a nasty bruise just below his torso where the debris had pinned him down, and he had a few scrapes and cuts along his shoulders and sides where the rubble had dug in. They'd been cleaned and disinfected by the medical team, but with the medication wearing off, they were starting to ache and sting against the air. Jayce stuck a hand into the stream of running water to test the temperature.

_Just right. Time to wash up._

He pushed aside the curtain and walked into the stall. The shower created rivers of water that ran along his back and the cuts making him wince. The feelings of the water and the pain created a strange sensation of discomfort and soothing at the same time. If nothing else, it was motivation to finish up quickly. "After all, I have very important work to get back to." He chuckled remembering the line so often used by the Revered Inventor. He'd based more than a few of his house's modifications on Heimerdinger's work, and nobody could deny that the little yordle was brilliant. As he turned his head, he took a facefull of water bringing him back to reality.

_Shower. Right. _

* * *

When he stepped out of the shower, he shivered as the colder air of the bathroom rushed to meet him. "Cold, cold, cold." he muttered as he scurried over to grab a bathrobe, nearly slipping in the process. He stepped into a pair of gold and blue plaid slippers with a half smile, half grimace.

_I hate how these things look, but damn they're comfy. At least they're in my colours._ Ezreal bought him the slippers the year before knowing that Jayce was in no way a fan of plaid to annoy him. Even though Jayce had sworn he'd throw them away several times to Ez, he always ended up putting them away instead of into the trash since they were the most comfortable slippers he owned. That being said, he'd never tell Ezreal that he liked them in case the explorer decided to start giving him more plaid clothing. It had happened before.

Once, back in high school, while Pentakill was getting started as a major band, Jayce found little to appreciate in metal music. When Ez finally found one of Pentakill's songs that Jayce liked, the blond went and bought their first two albums and set the stereo and radio in Jayce's car to play every song in both albums. It took Jayce a week before he figured out what Ezreal had done, but by then, he'd started to open up to the intense, violent sounds of the metal band. Now, while it wasn't one of his favorite genres, he could at least appreciate the music and lyrics (When he could grasp the meaning in Karthus' screams).

The memory was bittersweet as his thoughts went back to Ezreal, and his current predicament with his best friend. _Why are emotions so complicated… I wish I could just come up with an equation for all of this and make my life easier._

Wrapped up in his bathrobe, he walked over to the kitchen and started a pot of coffee. Less than a minute later, Cogs, the lead service droid (or Butler Droid as he called himself) waddled over and pulled the plug on the machine.

"Hey! What the hell was that for? I need the caffeine!"

The robot's metallic features simulated an annoyed expression. "No sir, what you need is sleep."

Jayce scowled at Cogs as the squat android emptied the pot and dropped it in the sink. "One of these days I'm going to reprogram you."

"That would be a shame sir. After all, you'd be forced to take care of yourself instead of spending all your time working."

_He's right, as always… As much as I may regret making him the way he is, I'd be lost without him. There simply isn't enough time to get work done, and as much as asking Zilean for some help in the matter might solve some of my problems, I don't trust Chronomancy. Too many variables, too easy to make mistakes, and I certainly don't want to get trapped in Limbo the way he did._

"Now then, you need to get some sleep. Just tell me what you need for tomorrow and I will gather them and leave them where you can get them once you've awoken."

"Thank you Cogs. As to the things I'll need, I'll need my coat, the furry collared one. I'll use my work pants, and the boots I'd been working on last month."

"Sir, those ones are a prototype that you said was malfunctioning."

"Not those, the bronze plated ones. They're intended to absorb shock efficiently, and they need a practical field test. Now's as good a time as any."

"Very well, but you know I disapprove of this 'excursion' that you're taking. Your work has put you in enough danger as it is, without deliberately seeking it. You should leave this to the authorities."

"The police can't do anything, and I don't trust Zaun."

"So your next option is go alone."

'My reputation is in danger, as well as our fine city. Viktor attacked me, my assistants, my lab, and stole MY crystal. I will not allow him to go unpunished, regardless of the risks."

"I see… So this is as much a matter of defending your pride as it is anything else."

Jayce frowned. "Well when you put it like that… I suppose so."

"Will there be anything else you need?"

"I'll handle everything else. Thank you Cogs, I'll see you in the morning."

"Too late for that. I'll wake you up if you sleep past noon. Will that be adequate?"

"Fair enough. I'll see you at noon."

"Goodnight sir."

* * *

After brushing his teeth and going over his list of things he'd need the next day for the seventh time, he slipped into bed and stared up at the ceiling of the dark room. It could take a while for him to sleep some nights, and when he lay in bed, doing nothing, his mind wandered. This night was a bad one for wandering with everything going on, and he'd be stuck thinking until he drifted off from exhaustion. He could take a sleeping aid, but he'd always found his mind moved slower for a few hours after waking up, and he couldn't afford to be mentally inhibited at a time like this.

Ezreal seemed to be a constant worry recently, with a couple problems occurring during League matches. He'd been paired up with a few bad summoners whose incompetence led to a few problems. One failed to put up the appropriate wards and ended up disconnecting, a League slang for when a summoner's mental capacity is overloaded either by a faulty connection, lack of magical protection or tampering with the summoning orbs, leading to a mental "checkout". The result could range from a temporary loss of consciousness to a coma. In more serious cases, insanity or even death had occurred. The champions themselves were unharmed, but were forced to return to the summoning platform in the hope that their summoner would reconnect. Some champions had ignored the rules and kept fighting without the aid of a summoner, but the punishment was always harsh, sometimes getting their names removed from the champion roster for the rest of the season, or into the next one.

It was no surprise that his thoughts moved on to Vi. The abrasive, aggressive cop seemed to hold something against him for trying to help her, but as clear about why as she was, he felt like there was more to it than that. For a twenty year old woman, she'd been through far more than most, or at least most citizens of Piltover. She was also a better fighter than he was, and with her position in the police force, he certainly didn't need or want her as an enemy. _I like my face the way it is, and I have no doubts she would enjoy rearranging my nose for me._

He could feel his eyelids slowly feeling heavier.

No matter how many times the two of them met, Jayce could never really understand Vi, besides her love and appreciation of Hextech. Her rough and tough demeanor could be a facade, but he really couldn't tell for sure. There were too many possible

She grew up on the streets, so maintaining an appearance could be the difference between life and death, but he'd seen a tenderness in her when she tinkered with hextech that he'd seen her reserve for no one. Perhaps there was somebody close enough to her for whom that side of her was shown freely, but he couldn't list very many people who even knew the pinkette. Ezreal, a handful of people in the force, and his newest acquaintance Caitlyn, the famed Sheriff of Piltover.

Up until recently, Caitlyn had been little more than a name and a picture from an old newspaper to Jayce. Now, she was quite the distraction, for a number of reasons. Firstly, as oblivious as he could be, Jayce could see there was something special about the raven haired beauty, and he'd be lying if he said he didn't find her quite attractive. He did note she seemed a bit flustered around him. For Jayce, this had often been a sign of attraction in women in the upper class society that he was a part of. _I certainly could look into having a relationship with her. She kept a calm and serious attitude when we were talking, or at least tried to, but I'm sure she's hiding who she really is behind that. Beyond that, you saw her rifle. I remember reading somewhere that she built it herself, and it looked like the work of a true professional. The additional lenses seem a tad excessive but I suppose it makes sense considering her reputation as a crack shot… No Jayce, now is not the time to think about these things. Viktor could be building his army right now. Just focus on organizing your thoughts so that you can get to sleep. You'll have time for women once you've dealt with him. _

_If you can deal with him… What if Ez is right? I really could die… No. That's not a possibility for me. You've dealt with all sorts of bullies before. Viktor is no different. If I were to fail, nobody else would be ready in time. Heimerdinger is out in Bandle City, and even the fastest transportation will take too long to get here. There is no other option besides success. I can't allow myself to have even the slightest doubts. I will beat him. I will. Piltover is my city, my home. It may not be perfect but it's mine, and it's going to take more than a mad scientist and his robotic army to stop me from defending it… Is that really what this is all about though? Cogs was right… This is as much about my pride as anything else. I've gained my reputation from my successes, but my peers will be slow to forget this. I earned the respect of the scientific community. The last thing I want from them is pity. I'd be lucky if that's the only…_

Jayce's thought trailed off as his mind finally slipped into unconsciousness, but he couldn't escape his fears quite yet.

_The room felt heavy with smoke and the sound of machinery filled the air. Jayce was looking down on himself, as if through the eyes of another. His body was lying on the ground, back propped up against a wall. His left foot was turned at an unnatural angle, and he was surrounded by a pool of his own blood that was leaking from wounds all over his body. "Jayce" coughed up more blood before looking up and meeting his gaze, a look of chilling defiance in his eyes. "Even if you kill me, the League will defend Piltover against your army. Your Glorious Evolution will be brought down, and you _will _be imprisoned."_

_To his horror, Viktor's voice answered from his own mouth._

"_Is that so? What would they be able to do? Send out armies of minions? Send the champions? My army could wipe out Noxus! Thanks to your crystal, I will be able to conquer any and all enemies who stand before me. The Glorious Evolution has begun! You could have joined me, we could have ruled Valoran under a united banner, but no. Your pride and refusal to let progress run its course has made us enemies. It is clear whose ideas have prevailed. I would have liked to have had someone else who could truly appreciate the wonders I will achieve, but no matter. There is no room for resistance in the new, improved world. This is goodbye Jayce."_

_His arm rose and pointed Viktor's staff forwards, and the robotic hand came over his shoulder, a death ray charging up, his vision turning crimson._

"NO!"

Jayce shot up from his bed in a cold sweat, breathing heavily. _What the hell was that? A premonition or just my fears getting the better of me?_ His mouth felt surprisingly dry. _I need some water, but if I get out of bed, I'll probably get back to work and I really do need the sleep..._ He felt his right hand clenched hard on something. He turned on the lamp by his bed and stuck his hand in the light to reveal Ezreal's stone, a faint hum droning on as the artifact pulsed rhythmically, bathing his hand and face in soft blue light. "Hmm… This is new." _I'll look into this once I'm home after I've dealt with Viktor._ He set the stone on his bedside table and the stone abruptly went inert. _Interesting… I wonder if Ezreal noticed anything strange with his gauntlett._

Cogs walked in barely a moment later, conveniently holding a glass of water. "Sir, I heard a shout. Are you alright?"

"Just a nightmare Cogs. Nothing to worry about."

"I assumed you would be thirsty, so I brought up some water. No need to get out of bed and get back to work."

Jayce looked at the glass and gave him a smile. "You know me too well Cogs. Thank you."

"You designed me to learn your habits and act accordingly."

"That I did. I still haven't thanked professor Reveck properly for his assistance with your creation."

"I thought you built me sir."

"I did, but Corin provided me with the knowledge to give you a personality as opposed to a mindless robot. He showed me how to make you smart."

"Well you'll have time enough to come up with an appropriate thank you once you come back home. Drink your water and get some sleep. You'll need it." The little robot stuck the water out for him to take.

Jayce sighed in acceptance and downed the glass in one gulp and handed it back to Cogs. then frowned. "You didn't put anything into it did…"

The tranquilizer kicked in before he could finish the sentence and he was asleep before his head hit the pillow. Cogs put the covers back in place and turned out the light.

"I'm sorry sir. You were right to say I know you too well. You would not have gone back to sleep without some assistance and sleep is an absolute necessity for you. Goodnight."


End file.
